Baking&Snack - February 2013 - 90

OVEN TECHNOLOGY

McCally predicted. “Higher speeds,
more product variability and lower
costs will continue to dominate
our marketplace,” he said. “Beyond
that, I see bakeries moving toward
cogeneration where they begin to
really increase their overall energy
efficiency across the plant. By taking
fuel — generally natural gas — and
converting it into heat and electricity onsite, they become energy producers, and their net energy consumption efficiency can improve by
as much as 50%.”
Auto-Bake’s Serpentine oven design offers energy-saving advantages
through its smaller footprint and
surface area and its on-board energy
monitoring system. Compact ser-

pentine ovens will provide energy
savings of at least 30% compared
with legacy systems, Ms. Hicks said.
Baker Thermal is working with
a number of bakers to implement
active exhaust technology that will
aid overall oven efficiency and bake
quality. “This system is available as
an option on our new ovens, and
it can also be retrofitted in a standalone fashion for our installed base,”
Mr. Barnes said. “Further, our engineering team is partnering with key
providers of heat recovery systems.
We aim to move beyond simple recovery of sensible heat to tap into
more of the lost energy.”
By enabling bakers to track energy usage trends, AMF Bakery

Maintenance solutions increase uptime
The ears and eyes serve as excellent tools for extending the life of the oven,
yet new technologies also can pay big dividends in the area of maintenance.
“Looking and listening is an age-old aspect of good support maintenance,
which requires operators to look and listen for anything out of the ordinary,
”
said Amanda Hicks, director and co-CEO of the Australian-based Auto-Bake.
Preventive maintenance is a key component for ensuring an oven’s
maximum efficiency, according to Terry Midden, industry manager, CPM
Wolverine Proctor, Horsham, PA.
Mark Cowart , service manager, processing systems, Heat and Control,
Hayward, CA, said, “Keeping an oven clean will help maintain product
quality and will reduce wear and tear resulting from the abrasive effects of
debris and other product residue.
”
Other new technologies also have been
provided to improve maintenance. For instance,
Stewart Systems, Plano, TX, developed a lubeless chain that continues to show remarkable
results through in-plant trials and testing. “The
lubeless chain bearings are prepacked with a
solid lubricant that does not require continuous
Prepacked with a solid lubricant,
lubrication, said Scott McCally, mechanical en”
these oven chain bearings do not need
continuous lubrication reducing maintegineer, thermal systems. “This advance greatly
nance times for bakeries.
improves the life and performance of the oven
Stewart Systems

chain by preventing carbon buildup around
lubrication points.
”
To increase predictive analysis of the condition of the chain in its ovens,
Baker Thermal Solutions, Clayton, NC, offers a patented Safeload Sentry
main chain diagnostics system. “In this day and age of high utilization and
minimal downtime, main chain life has been eroding, said Jerry Barnes,
”
senior vice-president, engineering. “Our system is designed to help reverse
the trend with increased diagnostics and alarms.
”

/ Baking & Snack / February 2013

Systems, Richmond, VA, helps them
become more sustainable regarding
energy consumption. It added energy management options to track
energy per pound of product baked,
noted Phil Domenicucci, thermal
product manager. The oven manufacturer applied newly designed ribbons in its burners for a more efficient gas-to-air mix.
Additionally, AMF can assist bakers in reducing energy consumption
and increasing capacity of their ovens by using a nano emissive coating
inside the ovens. Emisshield broadens the total bandwidth of the infrared (IR) radiation generated by natural gas as it burns, Mr. Domenicucci
said. “Emisshield makes use of more
radiation in the useful IR baking
range,” he explained. “This results
in two different complementary
advantages. First, the baker can reduce the amount of energy needed
to bake, thus saving energy. Or the
baker could increase the capacity
of an existing oven, also saving energy. In either case, sustainability
significantly increases.”

Modulating and modular
Tunnel ovens with independent
zone control for moisture evacuation feature excellent radiation characteristics, allowing bakers to adjust
moisture retention during baking,
noted Mark Rosenberg, president
of Gemini Bakery Equipment Co.,
Philadelphia, PA.
Gemini’s indirect-fired ovens with
multiple baking zones are equipped
with true vertical turbulence zones
that provide maximum flexibility for
specialty bread and rolls.
Modulating gas burners on its
direct-gas-heated ovens ensure
flame intensity that automatically
adjusts to the capacity required for
energy-efficient baking, according
to Martijn Oosterwegel, sales manager, Den Boer Baking Systems BV,
represented in the US by Tromp
Group USA, Dacula, GA.

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Baking&Snack - February 2013

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