#Industry News
NTE PROCESS: GREEN AND EFFICIENT TECHNOLOGIES FOR COFFEE PROCESSING
Learn more about our technologies
NTE Process is the Single Solution Provider of process solutions ranging from dense phase pneumatic conveying to mixing but also liquid injection, drying, spray drying and in-line formulation to packing, all aiming for maximum efficiency and flexibility in compliance with ATEX and GMP guidelines.
we have developed a wide range of applications suitable for the food sector: from baby food, milk processing, handling of cereals, rice, cocoa beans, coffee, starches, yeasts, premixes for the ice cream/cake industry, supplements and instant drinks, with complete lines for storage, dosing, pneumatic mixing, in-line formulation and bagging.
In particular, when we talk about coffee, we have to consider that the degassing process, necessary to release the carbon dioxide that is naturally released after grinding, is a very important and delicate phase.
But how does the NTE Process degassing technology work?
The coffee is stored in special silos in a controlled atmosphere and the naturally occurring gaseous mixture is replaced with nitrogen gas so as not to alter the physical characteristics of the coffee.
traditional technologiesneed a certain amount of time for degassing to be completed in order to avoid the subsequent release of an excessive amount of carbon dioxide, which would damage the integrity of the final product and packaging. The increased volume of the product could damage, for example, the sealing of the capsules rather than deforming the vacuum-sealed packs and changing the quality of the blend.
The NTE Process degassing technology generates a deep low pressure in the silos which, combined with the nitrogen mixing by the Jetmixer® M531 air mixer and temperature control, results in a considerable controlled acceleration of degassing times, with a consequent improvement in production performance (reduction in degassing times of up to 30-40%* and reduction in nitrogen consumption of up to 25%*) while keeping the batch homogeneous as the Jetmixer® M531 airmixer is free of dead zones.
The excellent results obtained with degassing led to the application of vacuum technology also for the conveying of ground coffee.
Dense phase pneumatic conveying with the patented NTE Process Air Assists® uses a small amount of compressed air to convey large quantities of product.
The system uses a low conveying speed, which drastically limits the phenomena of mixture segregation. This is achieved through the use of Air Assist® M366 (non M533? Gli M366 sono quelli vecchi) technology, a patented NTE Process compressed air or nitrogen injection system that is strategically placed along the pipeline and allows the coffee to be moved in many very compact product caps, thus limiting demixing and degradation phenomena.
the traditional Air Assist® technology has recently been innovated with the new "Eco Dense-Tronic®" patent that, thanks to the use of Artificial Intelligence, allows an increase in efficiency of 40% and a reduction in energy consumption of up to 70%. For each system equipped with Eco Dense-Tronic, a CO2 saving equivalent to almost 3,000 new trees planted* is possible in one year.
In addition to being "green", this new technology also improves and optimises product control and speed by reducing abrasion and consequently preserving pipes and product quality. This makes Eco Dense Tronic® particularly suitable for low speed conveying systems (< 5 m/s) and for delicate products even over long distances (more than 150 m). to the use of Artificial Intelligencealso allows continuous monitoring of pressure and line flow, so that the product conveyed maintains its characteristics (fines <0.1%*). Furthermore, the system is complemented by a self-diagnosis and self-learning device.
In addition, with the new 4.0 Transition Plan, the Ministry of Economic Development provides funding and tax breaks to encourage investments in competitiveness in a 4.0 perspective. With the tax credit you can save up to 50% of investments for goods functional to the 4.0 transformation processes. Contact us to understand how to integrate our solutions into your system and access these incentives.
Follow us on Linkedin or contact our specialists at sales@nte-process.com or www.nte-process.com.
*Results achieved on specific plant configurations.
