A standard vacuum pump enclosure impresses in a food packaging application
Pumps expert Gardner Denver has supplied a leading food packaging machine manufacturer with an innovative solution to help ensure it meets required hygiene and safety standards.
Based in Cheshire, UK, Proseal uses oil-lubricated, rotary vane pumps from Gardner Denver for its vacuum/gas packing technologies, to help ensure goods are tightly sealed. For food packaging business, best hygiene practice demands that these machines must be washed down at the end of every shift, which naturally poses a problem for vacuum pumps located in these facilities.
The harsh working environments and corrosive cleaning agents used by food manufacturers mean there is a very real risk of rusting and reduced pump performance over time. To overcome this challenge, Gardner Denver has developed a specially designed enclosure for its Elmo Rietschle VC 303 vacuum pump, which means it can be sited alongside Proseal’s vacuum/gas packing machines in wet environments.
The cover has been developed in line with the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) principles, which establish the appropriate food safety management procedures that businesses should have in place. Made from stainless steel, the cover means the vacuum pump can withstand wet environments, ensuring Proseal can help its customers maintain the highest hygiene standards, without affecting the vacuum pump’s performance.
Steve Windsor, senior development engineer at Proseal, explains: “If a vacuum pump cannot be sited alongside the food packaging technology, then it has to be installed remotely and piped to the machine. This is a costly process, so it is in our customers’ best interest to have the pump positioned as near as possible to the food packaging system.
“Gardner Denver has created a stainless steel cover for its Elmo Rietschle VC 303 pump that is ideally suited to meet the needs of the wet environments in which our technologies operate. These enclosed pumps offer a very attractive ‘plug and play’ solution for Proseal.
“Developed to meet HACCP standards, our customers can feel confident that they’re investing in a system that is robust and built to last, which allows them to easily carry out the necessary hygiene and safety procedures that are required.
“We couldn’t be happier with the solution, which is not only cost-effective but provides assured and efficient vacuum at all times too.”
Robust and economical
With a capacity of 300m3/h and an ultimate vacuum of 0.1 mbar, Elmo Rietschle’s VC 303 vacuum pump offers a robust and economical solution to Proseal and other manufacturers supplying to the food industry.
Gardner Denver has also supplied a range of Elmo Rietschle vacuum booster and oxygen compatible pumps throughout its working relationship with Proseal.
Steve Plane at Gardner Denver says: “Air quality and hygiene standards are, naturally, an important consideration in a food manufacturing environment. Most sites will follow the recognised principles of HACCP to make sure they are complying with food hygiene and safety legislation, removing any potential hazards or at least reducing these to an acceptable level.
“It has been great to partner with Proseal and develop an assured solution for our Elmo Rietschle VC 303 vacuum pump, which helps minimise the risk of contamination and meets HACCP standards.”
