The UK-based freezing and chilling manufacturer has supplied a MS (Modular Series) Turbo IQF Tunnel for Vadilal Industries in Dharampur, Gujarat, for vegetables and fruit.
Neil Winney, managing director, Starfrost, said Vadilal’s IQF freezes the products as quickly as possible to keep them tasting fresher for longer.
Delicate food items
“The MS Turbo IQF Tunnel is designed for individual quick freezing of large quantities of loose products, including careful handling of wet and delicate food items,” he said.
It is suitable for freezing 3,000 kg/hr of green peas and can process items such as diced fresh mango, papaya, okra, sweetcorn and strawberries.
Ambient products enter the IQF tunnel at -18°C in a two-stage freezing process.
Crust freezing zone
The first stage includes a crust freezing zone with a cascading conveyor belt with variable control to ensure continuous IQF separation. Then, the product is transferred to a fluidized bed for final freezing.
The Vadilal IQF fluidized bed has a one metre wide acetal plastic conveyor belt for low temperature applications. It also has an open mesh design to distribute airflow.
The conveyor speed and airflow is adjustable and can be optimized to suit the type of food products. The freezer is fully automated and features a touch screen computerized control system.
Hygiene
Winney added the freezer comes with an insulated enclosure and all stainless steel structure with welded floor for hygiene.
“The refrigeration system is a pumped natural ammonia plant that ensures high cooling efficiency and fast response to product temperature or capacity flow changes,” he said.
The MS Turbo IQF Tunnel can be custom designed for product capacities from 500kg/hr to over 20,000kg/hr.
It is suitable for mushrooms, onions, peas, tomato, diced mango and peach, as well as French fries, frozen herbs, bean sprouts, cooked rice, pasta and minced meat.