Baking&Snack - June 2011 - 82

OVENS

product manager. The company used CAE tools such as finite element analysis, computational fluid dynamics and mechanical oven simulation to look at earlier designs and help determine how they could be improved. “Scientifically exploring the subsystems of our ovens has given AMF greater understanding of the possible functionality and performance with little added risk,” he said.

▲ Designed with the help of computer-aided engineering, this oven evenly distributes heat throughout each zone, which results in an even bake.
AMF BAKERY SYSTEMS

Using Space-Age Technology
AMF Bakery Systems, Richmond, VA, offers a NASA-licensed technology for the interior of its ovens that reradiates heat. Emisshield is a high-emissivity ceramic material that broadens the infrared (IR) spectrum of the heat source, helping to reduce oven energy by up to 20% and increase capacity by as much as 10%. “The best way for a baker to be more sustainable is using AMF’s Emisshield nano-emissive coatings,” said Phil Domenicucci, the company’s thermal product manager. “By broadening the total bandwidth of the IR radiation from natural gas, Emisshield makes use of more radiation in the useful IR baking range.” The nano-emissive material improves the uniformity and waveband width of the radiant heat. When the walls, pans and burners of an oven are coated with Emisshield, radiant heat is absorbed and then reradiated back to the bread baking in the pans, resulting in more efficient heating of the bread. This technology results in two different complementary advantages, according to Mr. Domenicucci. “First, the baker can reduce the amount of energy needed to bake thus saving energy,” he said. “Or the baker could increase the capacity of an existing oven also saving energy. In either case, sustainability has been significantly increased.” By increasing the heating efficiency, bakeries decrease the time needed to bake products while improving the bread’s quality with greater volume and structural characteristics. Specifically, the application of Emisshield to the oven walls and burners will upgrade any existing oven to increase production. The material significantly reduces the gaseous by-products from baking that need for afterburners, and Emisshield can be used on oven afterburners and other components that experience heat or heat stress.

AMF added energy management options to allow bakeries to better track energy consumption trends and energy per pound of product baked. Also, it uses newly designed ribbons in its burners to improve the efficiency of the gas/air mix, according to Mr. Domenicucci. Stewart Systems, Plano, TX, improved its conveyorized ovens by supplying hardened curve tracks for longer life, according to Keith Dietz, the company’s conveyorized products manager. He explained that an ion-nitriding process hardens the metal of the

curved conveying tracks, and the company reinforced the curves on the vertical inside faces to prevent the distortion that can occur when the horizontal wheels roll on the inside of this surface. The company’s ovens also monitor the main drive motor’s power consumption to detect any problems such as high starting, running and rising power. “This is a much more accurate way to detect a problem and shut down the oven than monitoring the motor current,” Mr. Dietz said. Also, Stewart Systems places chevron-style burners in its ovens

to offer full coverage of the pan. “The entire width of the pan is exposed to each of these burners twice for better and more uniform heating,” Mr. Dietz observed. He pointed out the company zones its ovens for heat input to improve customization of the baking profile. Depending on the number of burners, Stewart Systems breaks its ovens into three to five zones. “Four zones are typical,” Mr. Dietz said. “The heat input from each zone can be proportionally varied relative to each of the other zones for every product code. This allows fine-

BAKING & SNACK / June 2011

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Baking&Snack - June 2011

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