Geelen Counterflow have recently performed a complete analysis
of all dryers installed at a major European private label petfood
producer. Engineers from the commissioning team visited 6 plants
in 4 countries and analysed 8 dryers (both horizontal and vertical)
from 4 different suppliers.
They performed a review of the mechanical
condition of the dryers which were in some cases over 10 years
old.
Energy efficiency and moisture uniformity were measured, as
well as air exhaust volumes.
At the end of the tests, a detailed
report was presented to the group's directors. Opportunities for
improvement were identified and discussed. In total the potential
savings in energy efficiency and moisture uniformity were calculated
as in excess of € 1 million per year. That is excluding the
financial impact of better product quality and lower cleaning and
maintenance costs.
A short list was prepared with a number of relatively
small mechanical improvements to the dryers.
As a follow up, the
Geelen team will be organising a set of seminars for the group's
plant managers and operators to improve their understanding of
the drying process.
