Baking & Snack - December 2022 - 68

EXTRUSION
ity. One possible solution is a vane cell pump.
" Other extrusion systems tend to smear or break
ingredients like blueberries, and eventually the dough
will start to change colors, " he said. " With the vane
cell technology, we really don't get that breaking up of
the particulates. "
Similarly, Reiser's Vemag double-screw pump can
Extruders must
gently handle BFY
snack doughs and
carefully monitor
variables like
temperature.
Reading Bakery Systems
tive powders also tend to flow through the extruder
more difficultly and require a delicate process, said
Sharon Nowak, global business development manager,
food and pharmaceutical industries, Coperion and
Coperion K-Tron.
The company's Actiflow, for example, is a real-time
vibration device mounted externally to the feeder but
directly tied to its loss-in-weight signal, detecting any
changes in the extrusion process.
" If the feeder experiences a bridge or rat-hole and
little or no material is being sent to the screws, the
ActiFlow vibration is activated, and the bridge breaks, "
Ms. Nowak explained. " After the weight signal is stable
again, the vibration is deactivated, preventing additional
packing that may sometimes occur with traditional
vibration devices. "
Another trend that can challenge extruders is larger
The modular
design of extrusion
barrels and screws
means the process
can be adapted
to different
ingredients.
Coperion
particulate or inclusion size.
" People are trying to incorporate larger pieces, whether
it's fruits or nuts, to get more product definition and a
better appearance, " said Ken Hagedorn, vice president of
the bakery sector for Handtmann.
When extruding these larger and potentially more
delicate inclusions, snack producers need a process that
won't break them down or diminish final product qualtransport
product without damaging larger particulates.
For snack bar production, Reiser's bar extruder
attachment ensures consistent size and weight, and a
waterwheel flow divider can also be added for multilane
production.
Bakers must also ensure these large particulates
don't end up drying out the dough and making it difficult
for the extruder to process them, he added.
Coperion K-Tron's new vibratory feeder is also ideal
for these inclusions, Ms. Nowak said. The patent-pending
vibratory drive ensures accurate mass flow without
any attrition. The company also offers a new Smart
Glide Finishing (SGF) anti-stick surface treatment that
can prevent sticking and glazing of certain ingredients.
This is another common issue bakers encounter with
certain BFY snack ingredients.
" For example, if you add a 3/8-inch nut piece, as opposed
to a 3/8-inch apple piece, they're the same size,
but the apple passes through really easily because it
tends to be slippery, whereas a nut is very dry, and you
can have a harder time getting it through the system, "
Mr. Hagedorn explained.
Making the right adjustments
With so many potential challenges when extruding, it's
critical to understand how to adjust a process to handle
a variety of BFY ingredients.
Because alternative ingredients may be more sensitive
to heat, it's important producers consider when to
introduce water to the extruder, as well as its temperature,
Mr. Roesler noted. He recommended that operators
introduce room temperature or chilled water.
" Then, when managing the temperature of the
barrel and screw, we recommend lowering the
temps in the cooking zones by turning heaters
off, " he said. " The temperature
from the friction inside the
extruder will naturally rise
but not to boiling point or
to the point of negatively
affecting the process. Then,
the die face is heated externally, and
the product's starches will rapidly expand
as it is extruded through the hot die
face plate. "
The screws of RBS's high-pressure ex68
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Baking & Snack - December 2022

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