Dairy
A large part of dairy processing relates to cheese and milk powder production. Cheese is a particularly risky product, having undergone fermentation. Special care is required in handling and in cleaning. Even the correct use of chemicals in disinfection and removing biofilm can damage belts. We manufacture especially resistant compounds that are relied on by the world’s largest producers for direct contact in slicing and grating operations. Our SuperDrive™ belt is credited with the lowest recorded bacteria counts at a key powdered milk processor where only a dry wipe down is used between shifts.
Grated cheese
Large scale producers of cheese and dairy products must contend with a fermented product that is sold in blocks, sliced, soft or hard and often is sold as an ingredient like grated cheese. Cleaning cheese residue is critical given the speed with which biofilm and lactic deposits can form on belts. Grated cheese is packed in frozen bulk loads for pizza bakeries and frozen food companies or in individual packs for retail. Modular belts were traditionally used on these elevators. Several problems were solved by changing to Volta SuperDrive™. Product no longer gets trapped in the spaces between belt modules, cleaning materials and water are reduced, time was saved while cleaning very inconvenient, sometimes inaccessible locations inside the processing room.
Handling of blocked products on elevator application
Loading large blocks onto a cleated elevator belt often results in damage to cleats. Plied belt cleats are unable to support the weight and fold backwards and eventually tear off the base belt, while inflexible modular cleats break. Volta cleats can support heavy weights without difficulty. Our experience in solving this task successfully has given us insights on how to support given loads on different angles of incline and when to use gussets to reinforce cleats. We have many options for Z elevators and vertical inclines. This cheese factory typically loads 20kg of cheese at a time per cleat.
Milk powder
Powdered milk is a key product in many countries. It fills the gap where local farms do not supply all the needs of a given market. The powdered product is prone to bacterial contamination that survives the desiccated stage and reactivates when rehydrated. There is a possibility of contamination from undetectable foreign bodies such as white fibers from fraying plied belts. To complicate matters, cleaning is dry without a wash down. A homogeneous Volta belt was used in one plant where pharmaceutical grade chemicals are recovered from the powder. It has experienced bacteria counts of 12ppm after a dry wipe down. A result that astonished the QA department and helps the company maintain its high standard of purity.
