Vegetable processor value-adds with powdered carrots

UK root vegetable processor Huntapac has used HRS Heat Exchangers equipment to help it produce carrot powder.

The company grows its own root veggies and wanted to find a way of producing a useful product from the 5% of its carrots that were otherwise not suitable for packing customers. The business decided to make carrot powder and it turned to HRS to supply the necessary tools to achieve its production.

“Five per cent may not sound like a lot, but when you are washing up to 400 tonnes of carrots a day, it soon adds up,” commented Huntapac’s Commercial Director Steven Kay. “We researched a few methods because there are lots of different drying techniques available, and we felt that the process that was right for use was to puree the carrots, put them over a drying drum and then mill the flake that results into a powder.”

The process begins when the carrots are diced and then pureed, after which they are fed into the heat exchanger. This consists of two HRS R Series rotary scraped surface heat exchangers placed in series, which raise the temperature of the carrot puree from 10 to 60°C. As well as the heat exchangers themselves, HRS supplied two feed hoppers and an HRS BP Series positive displacement pump to feed the puree into the heat exchanger. The heat for the process is supplied from a dedicated steam boiler and the line has a capacity of 500 kg of puree per hour. The warmed puree is then passed over a drying drum where it is dried to create a flaked product that is milled down into the finished powder.

“Preheating the puree before the drier performs two main functions,” explained HRS UK Sales Manager Andy Ensor. “Warming the puree makes it easier to move through the line as it has less resistance, but the biggest benefit is that it reduces the amount of energy needed to dry the puree making the overall process more efficient.”

The heat exchanger uses two HRS R Series rotary scraped surface heat exchangers.

The company now produces 60 kg of carrot powder an hour and it is sold as an ingredient in animal feed.

“With the tight margins involved in fresh produce, it is important to maximise the value of the crop which has cost you money to grow, and this line allows us to utilise the entire crop,” said Huntapac’s Commercial Director, Steven Kay.

“The line has been designed to be able to handle other crops, but we have initially chosen to focus on carrots, and although we have had to make tweaks as you do with any new process, we are now very happy with the quality and of the product that we are producing.”