European FoodTec Award 2009 in Gold won

The robot gripper system developed at the DIL is universally applicable, easy to clean and suitable for use in many food processing environments. The vacuum grippers ensure flexibility in the handling of food with irregular sizes. An under pressure applied between the gripper and the food surface holds the product securely. Contrary to other vacuum grippers, this one was designed and constructed following strict hygienic design requirements. A vacuum is generated in the gripper thus eliminating the need for tubes or pipelines which can easily soil. All gripper parts are made of food-grade stainless steel or food contact plastics materials. The gripping concept is based on the universally applicable HDHF vacuum generator with product-specific gripper geometry.

Increasingly, the transparency of internal processes is becoming a decisive factor for the compatibility of companies. One key element is the digital connection of production and management levels using manufacturing execution systems (MES). A successful MES builds on a systematic and standardized set of data and ensures proper data processing. There have been problems with the systems commonly found in the food industry because of the many different controls implemented by the various machine manufacturers. The “Weihenstephan Standards” are an innovative concept for the process-spanning data acquisition in the food and beverage industry that is independent of the manufacturer of the controls. This solution will contribute significantly to enhanced quality assurance and increased efficiency.

ConProLink by Handtmann is the first globally available continuous production system for sausages, which makes visually appealing sausages with completely closed ends. The products are produced in one endless chain. Next, they are divided by twisting into individual sausages which can then be separated. The sausage meat is filled into the alginate casings in a co-extruding process. The ConProLink system consists of two filling units and one twisting unit. One filling unit delivers the sausage meat and the other delivers the material for the casing for the subsequent co-extrusion process. This system is an innovative solution aimed at automated production with high streamlining potential.

High Pressure Processing (HPP) can be used to improve the shelf life and safety of food without heat or preservatives within a few minutes. With this treatment, nutritional properties and taste are almost completely maintained. Multivac has succeeded in integrating HPP equipment into an automated packaging line on which modified atmosphere packaging can also be produced. In order to achieve this, the process parameters had to be adjusted to an optimum combination of product, packaging material and packaging concept. The amount of pressure can be freely adjusted during the high-pressure application although it is important to allow for a short resting period during which the polymer from the modified atmosphere packaging can regenerate for stress reduction purposes. 

In order to control the evaporation of undesired aroma compounds from hot wort during brewing, Krones AG has developed the wort stripper Boreas which saves considerable amounts of energy and improves the quality of beer. The controlled stripping of undesired aroma compounds allows constant upstream brewing processes because the boiling process does not need to be adjusted for deviating raw material quality and the possible increase in dimethyl sulfide (DMS) levels. In addition, the boiling process can be optimized in terms of energy and time because the DMS formed during the process can later be reduced. Energy savings can be achieved due mainly to the low total evaporation rate. Lower rates of evaporation also go hand in hand with less warm water being needed for the previous stages in the brew house. The high stripping efficiency can be controlled precisely via the stripping gas flow. Due to the small footprint and the stand-alone construction, the system is easy to integrate and an interesting solution for medium sized breweries as well as for industrial breweries.

Processing grape mash and grape juice at temperatures below +10 °C has several advantages in terms of quality and cost effectiveness. However, the pectinases commonly used in wine making for the degradation of the water-binding pectin in grapes are no longer active at these temperatures. Based on current enological findings from the area of mash and juice treatment, Erbslöh Geisenheim AG has developed the enzyme preparation Trenolin Frio DF that is characterized by a high cold temperature tolerance. It is an innovative pectinase product that can be used for the production of white and red wines. The most important benefits are the maintenance of the grapes’ quality, the higher quality of the final product and the cost savings due to energy savings.

In conventional pasta driers, large volumes of air must be heated and conveyed in order to reduce the moisture content of spaghetti from approximately 30% to 12%. Depending on the temperature and moisture content, the starch-protein structures such as the ones found in spaghetti will have differing physical properties. When using these intelligently, it becomes possible to achieve the same pasta quality with a drying process that is slow at the beginning but needs a shorter processing time. This is due to the fact that less time is needed at the end of the drying process because there is less internal tension to be reduced which would otherwise promote the pasta to break. With the new technology concept of the pasta drier developed by Bühler AG, the process air is guided in such a way as to allow economical heat recovery through the condensation of the discharged air. Compared to traditional processes, this equipment can save 130 kWh thermal energy per ton of spaghetti.

The high levels of hygiene standards called for in the food industry require safe hygiene monitoring and ever more efficient cleaning processes. The cleaning robot “Cleenius” by Jürgen Löhrke GmbH can be used in high-risk areas in the food industry to ensure safe and reliable hygiene results. The robot can conduct complex cleaning operations even in confined spaces. It is supplied with energy and materials via a docking station. Due to its higher pressure stages, it can apply cleaning agents onto difficult surfaces. It is equipped with a lifting device that allows for the cleaning of high equipment and it has a parking system for the off-times with integrated self-cleaning and a gripper which allows materials to be moved and picked up in the processing plant.

Food Radar Systems AB is a Swedish supplier of systems that increase product safety in the food industry. The Look 100® sensor is their latest development. It has been optimized, in particular, for emulsions and food that are pumped through pipelines. The difference between this sensor and other detection systems for foreign matter is that it operates with microwaves. In this way, it can detect low density foreign matter including hard and soft plastic pieces, wood and rubber particles as well as pits or stones from drupes. The system is equally suited for detecting glass, metal and stones with the detectable particle size being dependent on the homogeneity and composition of the respective food product.