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Foodstuff producer Frigorífico Marba is known for its Mortadela Marba along with a variety of other sausages and cooked, stuffed meats.
In recent years, this product expansion has also lead to facility expansion and the purchase of new, state-of-the-art equipment. To keep one facility clean and safe, Marba strove to control excess dust produced by powder ingredients with an innovative new vacuum conveyor system.
"To produce our mortadella, we need to add starch and soy protein powders to a meat paste," explained Sergio Perseguetti, a technical supervisor at Marba. "This requires the operators to discharge almost 200kg of the powders in a very short period of time."
The process of adding in these ingredients involved stopping the Cozzini mixers where the paste was prepared and hoisting the stainless steel containers that held the powder up to the top of the mixers.
This resulted in the generation of a large cloud of dust, making the surrounding air unhealthy to breathe.
Marba decided to investigate alternative solutions to the manual handling of these powders. An enclosed conveying system that could quickly and hygienically transfer the powders met all of their qualifications.
"We worked together with PIAB to test the transfer of materials with the C2102-400 stainless steel conveyor," said Perseguetti. "After this testing, it was clear that the dust problem would be solved with this solution."
The manufacturer installed a C2204-600-Pitex conveyor with an accompanying feed station in its facility. Both were equipped with a fluidisation system so that the compressed air could pass through the porous material, allowing it to discharge freely from the vacuum receiver. The system also allows for Marba's operators to easily regulate flow as needed.
"This was a great solution for us as it not only significantly decreased the levels of dust in the air, but also provided additional advantages," Perseguetti said. "We were actually able to increase productivity in this process by 30 per cent due to reduced mixing time with the new conveying system." Marba's employees can now enjoy the clean air surrounding the mixers, as well as avoid injury with the newly automated, ergonomic process.
For more information, visit www.piab.com