“We All Scream for Ice Cream” – Pfannenberg’s Thermal Management plays a key role in a favorite summer treat!


From the Farm to the Factory

When the trucks arrive at the factory, the milk and cream are pumped into storage silos and kept cool at 36°F until they are ready to begin the process.

Making the Ice Cream Mixture

The process begins by mixing ingredients and various flavors into a 1000-gallon stainless steel blender.  Heavy cream, liquid sugar cane, and condensed skim milk are the first foundational ingredients. After that, sometimes egg yolks and cocoa powder are incorporated depending on the desired flavoring. A natural stabilizer is mixed in to prevent various ice crystal formation or heat shock.  Blended for a total of about 6-8 minutes, it is then ready to be transferred and strained into a large tank.  This tank will store the mixture until it is ready to begin the pasteurization process.

Pasteurization & the Homogenizer

Pasteurization heats up the mix to kill harmful bacteria. The mixture flows through various plates. Hot water flows on one side of the plate and cold water (cold mix) flows on the other side of the plate. The heat from the hot water is transferred to the ice cream mix, heating this mix up to 180°F.

Right from there, the mixture enters the homogenizer.  Here the mix is exposed to high amounts of pressure so that the fat particles from the cream do not separate from the rest of the mix.  Then the heat from the ice cream mix is transferred to the cold water, cooling the ice cream mix down to 36°F.

The mix is then moved to a tank room.  This room is cooled down to 36°F degrees, where the mix will be stored for 4-8 hours which allows the ingredients to really form.  Next more flavorings are mixed in (such as vanilla, peppermint, purees, and other extracts).  Once the appropriate flavors are added it is then transported into the freezer.  The temperature has to be below freezing, most plants keep it at -40°F.

Freezing & Packaging

To further the process in making hard ice cream, it travels to the packaging area of the factory.  Here the soft serve ice cream is dispensed into various packaging containers and then delivered into the storing freezer before shipment. At this point the temperature of the mixture is around 22°F. For the mixture to reach a colder state it has to enter a spiral freezer where it travels around in a -60°F maintained temperature part of the plant.  When the ice cream leaves the spiral freezer it should be around -10°F. From there the ice cream cartons are stored into various freezing warehouses until they are shipped.


So what role does Pfannenberg play in this desired product?

Automation plays a critical role in the manufacturing of ice cream. Numerous electrical enclosures contain the critical electronics (VFDs and control components) to operate the machinery ranging from mixing to the final packaging. Even though these enclosures are found within a relatively cool environment, the temperature inside the cabinets needs to be maintained. Without proper enclosure cooling these electronics may overheat, bringing operations to a halt. Pfannenberg’s PWS Air to Water Heat Exchangers are ideal for cooling electrical components found in food and beverage processing facilities. The units can utilize existing cooled liquid while saving energy costs vs, traditional compressor based AC cooling units. Our cooling solutions make this cool summer treat possible.


Be sure to visit us at IBIE 2016 in Las Vegas, NV — October 8th-11th at Booth #9247 to learn more about our closed loop liquid cooling solutions.

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Topics: Air Water Heat ExchangersThermal ManagementFood & Beverage

Pfannenberg Products Assist in Making an American Staple Summer Treat


Hot dogs – a staple summer treat that brings back memories of family cookouts and baseball games. It is an American favorite summertime food! Hot dogs go through a series of complex processes that combine the ingredients into their delicious final form and Pfannenberg’s PWS Air to Water Heat Exchangers are perfect to keep things running.

Meat Processing

The first step into creating one of the most loved foods is the preparation of the meat.  The meat is cut into small pieces and is placed into a large mixer.  These mixers have chopping blades to further cut the meat into smaller sizes. Here the raw ingredients and flavorings are added.  All are mixed until the mixture is a smooth paste consistency. Processes like this can require large control panels to operate the system and Pfannenberg’s PWS Air To Water Heat Exchangers are ideal for cooling your electrical components. Pfannenberg’s Air/Water Heat Exchangers utilizes chilled water, that is readily available, and an internal fan to provide cool air to prevent critical electronics from overheating.

Linking

The paste is always going through inspections throughout the entire process. After inspection from the mixer – the mix is moved into a stuffer.  This machine will push the paste into tube casings.  The casings are twisted at measured sections to make equally sized hot dogs. There are various casings – natural or artificial. The shaping of the hot dogs we all know is now complete.

Smoking

After the stuffing and linking, the hot dogs are then moved to a smokehouse to cook under controlled conditions.  Manufacturers can control the temperature and the difference flavors that the smoking has on the hot dog by using difference smoke sources.  Average time it takes in this step is an hour.

Final Processing

Once the smoking is completed, the link casings are removed by an automatic peeler.  During this time, the hot dogs are sprayed with water to help bring down their temperature.  Then the hot dogs are then transported to be packaged. Before going into the final packaging, the hot dogs are inspected to make sure there are no foreign ingredients in the product.

Pfannenberg has experience with inspection and x-ray equipment. Pfannenberg was able to combine a Chiller and PWS Air  To Water Heat Exchanger to cool the x-ray tubes as well as the electrical enclosure as one example.

The packaging machines can process thousands of hot dogs in an hour.  They are operating at very fast speeds and require proper thermal management cooling to keep their machines up-and-running. Once packaged, hot dogs are inspected again, freshness dates are added, and they are all boxed up to be transferred to the warehouse for refrigeration until they are shipped. The entire process from start to finish, only takes a few hours.


Click Here to read “Chillers for X-Ray Machines – A Food & Beverage Success Story”.


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Chillers for X-Ray Machines – A Food & Beverage Success Story


With the next round of Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) updated regulations taking into effect September, food processing companies are scurrying to make sure their facilities are up to code. The newest set of updates will support efforts into the quick responses to food/beverage related emergencies (contamination, expired products, recalls, and foreign materials). The new amendments also require that the FDA inspect the food production facility every two years to make sure that the facility and products adhere to all regulations.

A simple first step into maintaining food processing safety is x-ray/inspection equipment for product safety and making sure the machines operate properly.  In making sure these machines operate properly, one has to make sure that they have the proper thermal management equipment; something in which Pfannenberg has extensive experience in.

Success Story

Pfannenberg worked directly with a food and beverage inspection OEM to provide complete engineering solutions for the cooling of x-ray tubes and the internal cavity of their inspection machines. These machines would end up in various food & beverage and pharmaceutical end use facilities.  Before meeting with Pfannenberg our customer used several different competing thermal management products; conventional cabinet air conditioners to cool the machine cavity, two small internal fans to move the air around and a small chiller. It was costly, cumbersome while leading to additional maintenance costs and condensate issues.

The Pfanneberg team came up with a solution to utilize a CC Chiller in conjunction with a small PWS Air to Water Heat Exchanger to cool the x-ray tubes and internal cavity.  By combining products and eliminating an air conditioning unit, the Pfannenberg option required less maintenance and was more cost effective eliminating dependencies on different competing products.


Click Here To read, “The Technology of Cooling Part 4: Closed Loop Liquid Cooling Solutions”.


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Topics: Air Water Heat ExchangersPackaged ChillersFood & BeverageChillers