Continuous mixing
Sobatech is the worldwide ambassador of continuous dosing, continuous mixing and bulk fermenting of all kinds of food products. With its innovative character and focus on three parts of the production process, Sobatech became the specialist in continuous food processing technology. The Sobatech team is passionate about enabling Industrial food producers to meet the increased food and quality demand of tomorrows consumers.
Continuous dosing
Sobatech understands that dosing is essential for reaching the required product quality. Sobatech truly believes that if the various raw materials are not dispensed in the correct quantities to begin with, it will never be possible to produce a correct product. For that reason, the dosing of all solid & liquid ingredients is constantly monitored: the line stops and gives an alarm signal if a dosage deviates from the set value (the time and % of the deviation are adjustable).
Sobatech believes in the benefits of gravimetric dosing which is based on the loss-in-weight principle. We developed our own tailor made open source software to control the feeder-pumps and other hardware involved in the continuous dosing of ingredients. This means that in Sobatech’s systems, there are no hidden programs, no protected passwords; everything can be open and accessible to the customer.
Sobatech’s software to control the feeder pump and other dosing hardware ensures a continuous and accurate flow of both dry ingredients and loss-in-weight situations (normal operation) as well as gain-in-weight (during refill of a hopper) and liquid ingredients of low, middle & high viscosity. The software measures the flow of ingredients five times per second and adjustments are made immediately, making it possible to achieve an extremely consistent dough quality.
Continuous mixing
A Sobatech continuous mixer uses a 2-phase process for mixing the ingredients into a consistent and homogeneous mass. As soon as all ingredients are evenly and accurately distributed over the complete mass (phase 1), the development takes place (phase 2). This is done in a controlled and extremely precise way during kneading. Production volumes range from 50 kg/hour to over 10,000 kg/hour. This can be accomplished in an almost employee free operational environment resulting in significant (labor) cost savings.
Phase 1: Sobatech’s homogenizer
Both phase 1 (the homogenizer) and phase 2 (the mixer) are based on the first-in / first-out principle. The homogenizer phase guarantees a high level of water absorption and therefore more moisture in the final product. In this phase the ingredients are not mixed mechanically, resulting in a 100% homogeneous and consistent flow of mass. The excellent mixing characteristics of this first stage ensures, via a medium pressurized water injection system, a perfect hydration of the flour. Besides that, it ensures a very substantial and homogeneous distribution of the active substances.
Phase 2: Sobatech’s continuous mixer
The innovative tools of the continuous dough mixer (phase 2 mixing), are responsible for the controlled flow of mass throughout the mixer. The combination of a relative small amount of mass in the mixing chamber with a relatively high volume of tooling, result in a remarkable high energy efficiency. A large part of the energy developed by the mixer tooling is put into the mass.
Link to video: Homogenizer (phase 1 mixing) SOBATECH - YouTube
CONTINUOUS BULK FERMENTATION
The preparation of many foods require a resting time for the development of taste, consistency, aroma etc. Time is a key factor within this continuous bulk fermentation process. Besides time, also ensuring each part of the mass is exposed to the same environmental conditions is of great importance in end-product quality and consistency.
Temperature, time and humidity controlled
At the outlet of the continuous mixer, there is a vertical belt to bring the dough into the tube. The fermentation time can be controlled by adjusting the screw speed in that tube. The set point of the speed is included in the final recipe. At the output of the tube, there is a divider that takes out the dough. The tube has a double jacket to stabilize the dough temperature. It is also possible to control the humidity in the tube. Combining time with an equal and controlled exposure to the right proofing conditions are the vital features of a Sobatech continuous bulk fermenter. Sobatech’s system control software allows to easily monitor and modify the temperature, humidity and speed of the continuous fermenter.