Food extruder REF-45

Laboratory single screw extruders for food extrusion REF 45 mm-Food.

Laboratory food extruders are small versions of production extruders. However, there are many differences between laboratory and production extruders. Laboratory food extruders are more extensively equipped with functions that allow testing many food ingredients, which makes them very versatile devices. They have functionalities that facilitate and accelerate the food testing process. Laboratory food extruders are equipped with a rich a set of precise measuring sensors.

• Laboratory food extruders are ideal for short delivery and response times for small volume food product batches or pilot trials. They can be adapted to all food extrusion applications.

• They are designed to enable the efficient development of new food products and the testing of new extrusion processes - this can be critical for a manufacturing company or research labs. Laboratory extruders can be used to reduce the time to market of new food products.

• Laboratory food extruders can be used to test new food ingredients. Different formulations can be tested to find out how they behave during extrusion. The amount of extruded samples is usually sufficient to be easily made for testing and evaluation of a newly developed food product.

• Continuous research and development ensure continuous improvement and optimization of final products. Final products require quality control. This is most easily done on a laboratory scale without the need for industrial extruders.

• Universal laboratory food extruders designed for small batches of product, with the possibility of a quick change of the research process, can be effectively used in the training process. They allow you to effectively use time and maximize the effectiveness of training.

Product scalability from labs to food production.

Laboratory food extruders are a valuable research and development tool for performing research that is ultimately to be scaled up to industrial production. In addition to preventing the use of valuable production resources, significant material cost savings can be achieved by making small batches of product. The key to applying scale of operation is the flexibility of laboratory extruders for extruding products Versatile lab extruder allows you to test and modify processes for best results before scaling up to production.

A key factor in successful scaling is ensuring that food products have exactly the same experience on production equipment as they do on lab food extrusion lines Zamak Mercator lab extruders are fully customizable and can be equipped with specialized process control instrumentation to continuously measure and record parameters in order to accurately reproduce the food extrusion processThe technical parameters of food extruders are highCompact and versatile, and at the same time stable and precise, Zamak Mercator laboratory extruders turn out to be a very profitable investment in equipment intended for research.

Zamak Mercator is a manufacturer of laboratory twin-screw extruders for food with screw diameters: 45 mm or other on request

• The extruders are equipped with a grooved cylinder with a modular design.The feeding zone of the extruder is water-cooled. The first part of the cylinder, 8 D long, is electrically heated and air-cooled.

• The key factor determining the quality and credibility of research on the food extrusion process is the control and reliable measurement of the melt temperature in each zone of the extruder.

• The temperature measuring sensors are arranged in such a way as to ensure reliable temperature measurement and limit measurement interference from heaters operating at a higher temperature than the plasticizing system.

• In order to avoid uncontrolled temperature rises, the electrically heated cylinder zone is equipped with an efficient and fast cooling system that cooperates with the heating system of the food extruder cylinder.

• Precise temperature control of the plasticizing system of the extruder is ensured by a multi-zone temperature controller designed by our company.

• The temperature control system has the ability to calibrate and shape the heating and cooling characteristics of the plasticizing system by the researcher.

Factors affecting food extrusion using single-screw extruders.

Food extruders have a very long history, and meat extruders were used to make sausages as far back as the 1870s. In the 1930s, dry pasta and breakfast cereals were massively extruded, and many bakeries also started using extruders for food production. Since then, food extrusion technology has crept into the everyday kitchen appliances such as herb and coffee grinders, meat grinders and pasta machines.

The beneficial properties of the food extrusion process lead to consistent and repeatable quality, uniformity and efficiency in the mass production of food products. Food can be profiled into cooked or cold-formed products or semi-finished products of any size, color, shape and consistency.
Starchy foods extrude well, such as pasta, breads, cereals, snacks and candy The food extruder mixes the ingredients evenly, utilizing the heat generated by the friction of the process, as well as additional heating during cooking, before passing the material through the die to form the product final.
Reactions and changes in the state of the food material in the extruder plasticizing system and at the die face contribute to different food processing results Some foods, such as cereals and snack chips, are formed using rapid expansion or swelling that occurs when the material is released by the matrix into the environment.

Custom-made extrusion dies can impart additional properties to the final product, for example, a long die gives vegetable protein the fibrous appearance of real meat, or bronze casting gives pasta a rougher surface for better sauce retention.
As with any extrusion process, the determining factors are material composition and flow properties, screw speed, barrel length, temperature, pressure, humidity, die shape and product cutting speed, all of which must be closely monitored and controlled to ensure that the final food product has required features of appearance, touch and taste.
Most extruder food production takes place at fairly low humidity levels, i.e. below 40%, as moisture reduces the viscosity of the mix and plasticizes the processed material. The increased density of the wet mix lowers the torque and lowers the die pressure.Wet extrusion requires feeding and mixing in a twin screw extruder and requires better process temperature control.

Another factor affecting the texture of the final products is the salt content, which affects the product's aeration and consequent expansion after extrusion Salt also affects the color of the food as the resulting water absorption affects the browning ability of the material However, it is a useful carrier that helps distribute colors evenly and flavors throughout the product.

Division of food extruders into single-screw and twin-screw extruders.

Textured proteins can be processed in single and twin screw extruders There are differences between the two designs Single screw extruders are machines that have produced and continue to produce the world's largest tonnage of textured soy protein products For textured proteins, the limiting factor in the use of single screw extruders is the ability to use a narrow range of raw materials Their use requires good uniform ingredients.
The plasticizing system of the twin-screw extruder consists of two cooperating, interlocking, self-cleaning sets of screws. The screws are divided into segments, thanks to which their arrangement can be modified, thus affecting the processing properties of the extruder to a large extent. more positive product pick-up characteristics compared to a single auger As a result, the twin auger design allows for a greater variety of product processing.

Generally speaking, food extruders can be divided into single screw and twin screw extruders. Raw materials with high coefficient of friction, such as corn grits, rice cones, whole grains, extrude well in single screw extruders. For this reason, they are widely used to extrude snacks and breakfast cereals.
Twin screw extruders are classified as co-rotating and counter-rotating depending on the relative motion of the extruder screws relative to each other.
Co-rotating twin-screw extruders offer better conveying, mixing than single-screw extruders. Compared to a counter-rotating twin-screw extruder, a co-rotating extruder can run at much higher rotational speeds, thus providing higher throughput and better mixing.

The die is a key element in the design of the extruderThe die area is the section of the extruder that occurs after the food material leaves the extruder barrelThe die is usually made up of three parts, which are the transition, distribution and die plate sections When the dough leaves the die, the temperature and pressure drop rapidly and the product it expands when released into the environment.

Food extruder die and food product expansion.

The die is one of the main components of the extruder configuration The die allows the extruded dough to expand rapidly into various shapes and sizes depending on the configuration of the die section Understanding the material properties and flow pattern of the extruder die is fundamental in controlling extruder performance, shape and product quality.
It has been observed that the die entry pressure drop for a viscoelastic fluid is much greater than the entry pressure for a Newtonian fluid of nearly the same viscosity. The inlet pressure drop of the extruder dies increases with the decrease of the extruder barrel diameter ratio. matrix.These factors are very important in the design of food extruder dies.

Process conditions combined with die parameters can have a significant impact on extrusion quality The die diameter and length play a very important role in the extrusion process The flow rate decreases proportionally as the length of the die is increased Typically when cooking with extrusion, reducing the size of the die opening increases the pressure in the die The role of the die in defining texture in extruded products is often overlooked and underestimated The shape of the die will affect the shape and texture of the finished item Tapered die opening will create a smoother surface of the product and cause less mechanical damage to the extruded ingredients A die insert with a sudden change in cross-section and short length will cause more mechanical damage to food ingredients and a finer cellular structureThe shear environment of laminar flow through the matrix influences the textureHigher shear rate matrices have the potential to influence the texture more The product's high shear rate in the matrix causes more shear damage and reduces molecular size, creating softer products with smaller pores, increased solubility and lower mechanical strength. The matrix can also greatly affect textured soy protein.

Important features of single screw food extruders:

• High drive torque

• High allowable pressure inside the cylinder

• Modular construction of the cylinder and worm system

• Replaceable grooved cylinder liners

• Precise, efficient and economical zonal heating and cooling system

• Low energy consumption

• Simple and ergonomic operation

• High efficiency

• High quality and durability of components

• Space-saving

• Ability to adapt the structure to customer requirements

• Digital control system