A reputed sugar manufacturing company was facing problems transferring fluid. The company experienced leakage and blockage in its system. Diaphragm metering pumps could not work in small amounts of liquids and also could not deliver the required flow rate. As a replacement, the company operators chose a peristaltic pump, successfully overcoming these problems, while also reducing their downtime.

The Distillery and Beverage Industry in India today faces increasingly conflicting challenges. One of the biggest challenges is achieving efficient fluid handling and flow control. Many fluid handling problems arise because the pumps in use are not designed or suitable for their applications and conditions. Pump selection can often be a critical determining factor in process performance and product quality.

Down in the depths of the peak district resides a reputed sugar manufacturing company, Saswad Mali Sugar Factory Ltd. The company has set up a 30 klpd molasses based distillery at Malinagar. The unit manufactures 900 KLPM of rectified spirit, 846 KLPM of ethanol, 90 KLPM of impure spirit and 15 KLPM of fusel oil.

Saswad Mali Sugar Factory Ltd is one of the largest sugar manufacturers in India. In addition to manufacturing sugar, the company uses molasses (the by-product generated from sugar production) in its distillery. The molasses produced in the factory is used as raw material in the preparation of industrial-grade alcohol/ethanol.

One of the key applications in this manufacturing process is enzyme dosing in Grain Distillery liquefaction. The role of the enzyme is to break the starch into glucose. The enzyme is added to the liquefaction tank 24 hours a day. A precise volume is required to be delivered at very low but variable rates, depending on the process and size of the tank.

The Challenge

Saswad Mali Sugar Factory Ltd was initially using diaphragm metering pumps to deliver the enzymes but experienced leakage and blockages in the metering pump system. Mr Rahul Tilekar, Saswad Mali Sugar Ltd, was dissatisfied and said: "We started experiencing leakage and blockage in the system within just two months of installation."

Transferring and dispensing highly viscous products or high-solid concentrated products can each create problems, while handling shear-sensitive products can bring a whole other set of problems. Food processors must also maintain contamination-free flow and meet stringent product quality and safety requirements while simultaneously maintaining high production rates. Efficient fluid handling and flow control with minimal downtime is paramount.

The Solution

Cole-Parmer entered the scene, providing a much-needed solution customised to the application. Cole-Parmer leveraged its knowledge of pumps, gained on similar applications, and brought it to the table by offering Saswad Mali Sugar Factory Ltd a smart solution: the Masterflex^? peristaltic pump. They introduced the L/S^? Economy Variable-Speed Pump with Easy-Load^? II pump head and also brought in PharMed^? BPT thermoplastic elastomer tubing, which provides comparatively longer pump life.

This pump is designed to handle the toughest process applications and achieves high flow rates of up to 9.8 gallons per minute (37.1 LPM). Saswad Mali Sugar Factory Ltd bought the pump and was surprised to learn they could improve their process exponentially.

"The design of the pump works wonderfully," said Tilekar. With a customised solution and trustworthy products, Cole-Parmer ensured a precise repeatable accuracy. The solution also delivers a high degree of durability which reduces maintenance costs, downtime, and improves the overall operating efficiency - further reducing the worries of the operator.

Masterflex: The Smart Solution

Masterflex pumps are the smart solution for virtually all food and beverage processing applications. They provide a well-balanced range of capacities and flexibility combined with repeatability.

They also work with a wide tubing selection to provide precise, reliable, and long-term operation. The Masterflex pumps are designed to efficiently handle a wide range of food & beverage processing applications - from pumping shear-sensitive products to highly viscous material transfer - while continuously providing accurate and contamination-free flow control. Masterflex pumps never need to be cleaned or serviced between production change-outs because the material is contained within the pump's flexible tubing. Changing out the tubing is a simple procedure that takes less than a minute.

Benefits

Non-contamination, simple operation, low maintenance, multimedia pumping capabilities, compatible with a wide range of tubing materials, and minimised downtime

The consequences of wrong pump selection can go beyond frequent downtime, maintenance costs, and high demand for spares. Yet with Masterflex peristaltic pumps - which provide accuracy, reliability, durability, and flexibility over a wide range of flows and products - manufacturers can maintain superior product integrity. Masterflex pumps are compatible with a wide range of tubing materials for commercial food processing applications to meet USP, FDA, NSF, and 3A requirements.

Whether it is the transfer of thick molasses or the precise dispensing of additives, Masterflex pumps stand up to the challenge. Once the pump was installed in the unit, Tilekar immediately noticed efficiencies. "The Masterflex L/S pump has marvelously improved%2

The Results: Less worries and more efficiency, delivering greater economical value. After significant time, the performance of the Masterflex peristaltic pump has more than measured up to expectations. Saswad Mali Sugar Factory Ltd experienced:

??Substantial reduction in service and maintenance costs
??User-friendly operation and convenient batch-to-batch changeover, and
??Reduced downtime. Instead of replacing complete pump units, only the tubing requires changes. This further reduces downtime for maintenance. "We are very happy and satisfied with the performance of Masterflex Peristaltic Pump System," confirmed Mr Tilekar.

Conclusion

Peristaltic pump can be a superior alternate technology to diaphragm metering pumps in many applications. Other applications for Masterflex peristaltic pumps include: cooking oil recovery; dispensing of flavorings with pulp; pumping of concentrated salt slurry, icing for pastries, pizza/pasta sauce, preservatives, sucrose gradient, syrups to cooker, etc; and transferring of potato chips waste slurry, raw fruit pieces, etc.

(Article Courtesy: Cole-Parmer India. Cole-Parmer is a worldwide leader in delivering solutions to the scientific community, with 50 years of global expertise in fluid handling, life science, general laboratory and process instrumentation. For further information, contact Cole-Parmer at 022-67162222 or response@coleparmer.in)