Optimizing Sustainability in Food-Manufacturing Operations

by PSG | Dec 17, 2020

According to the Food Waste Alliance, which is a partnership of experts dedicated to fighting global food waste, roughly one-third of the world’s annual food supply does not make it from farm to table. Additionally, according to estimates, as much as 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions have been linked to food waste.

Therefore, successfully reducing food waste in the field-to-fork supply chain is one way to reduce the world’s carbon footprint, hopefully slow climate change, improve personal employment and feed people, all while optimizing costs for families, companies and farmers.

Food-and-beverage manufacturers have long fought the battle to build sustainable manufacturing operations that reduce the amount of wasted raw materials and end products. Admittedly, there will always be some level of waste in food-and-beverage manufacturing, but there is a direct path available to manufacturers that can allow them to more reliably realize significant and sustainable product recovery.

This path is supported by process pumps that are able to achieve low levels of slip, whether when new, with a change in viscosity or pressure or with some wear. Other important categories in a high-product-recovery pump are its ability to dry prime, wet prime with low viscosity and a compression effect helping to clear lines.

Lobe, external circumferential piston (ECP), twin screw, centrifugal, hose and progressive cavity-style pumps generally do not meet as many of these benchmarks as the eccentric disc pump, a technology pioneered Andre Petit, founder of Mouvex®, a product brand of PSG®. This pump technology can achieve increased product-recovery rates upwards of 70%, with many recoveries typically around 80% and as high as 95%, for food and beverage, pharmaceutical or cosmetic manufacturers. This improved pump technology is not only able to save still usable raw materials and saleable end products; it can also result in cost savings, which can be calculated by multiplying the value of the recovery by the number of changeovers per day.

Mouvex offers its SLS Series Eccentric Disc Pumps for use in hygienic manufacturing, including food and beverage. The SLS Series pumps feature a unique seal-less design that operates around a double stainless-steel bellows for improved suction compared to competing technologies. SLS Series pumps can also run dry for up to five minutes, while the self-compensating eccentric disc operating principle provides constant and accurate flow rates that are pulse-free, which also helps ensure the proper handling of shear-sensitive liquids. With no mechanical seals or timing gears, SLS Series pumps are easy to maintain and their clean-in-place (CIP)/sterilize-in-place (SIP) capability makes them the ultimate choice for convenience and cleanliness.

To learn more about Mouvex’s complete portfolio of pump and compressor technologies for use in the handling of critical industrial liquids and dry-bulk products, please visit mouvex.com.