Boilers calibrated nozzles. The water travels down a bed of stainless steel pall rings that allow the water droplets a surface to impinge upon and spread thinly over them creating a huge water surface area. A gas-fired burner mounted at the top of the water heater fires downward through a flame tube. Heat from the flame works back up through the pall rings and is immediately transferred to the thin layers of cold water. Water temperatures of 185°F are reached within 20 seconds after startup and a pump located at the bottom of the unit immediately transfers the hot water to its application or storage tank. Because all of the combustion takes place in this enclosed chamber, the water vapor produced during combustion is condensed, so the latent heat normally lost in a conventional steam boiler sys- .1 " A typical boiler converts cold water into steam that is sent through a heat where the transfer of heat from the steam takes place. A boiler is generally not viewed as an efficient way to heat water for meat processing. (Illustration courtesy of Armstrong International) tem is captured. "The heat transfer is direct, so you don't experience the heat loss that you do in a conventional steam system," Griffin says. "Fuel efficiencies can exceed 95 percent." Because the combustion takes place in an enclosed environment, it also produces very low levels of FAS SMAR - j . and read y STAR .EED A 2OBOTIC #ASEPACKER AT THE END OF YOUR MEATPOULTRY LINES mi' ( nMullot ion s &AST AND AFFORDABLE s 3MALL m OOR SPACE REQUIREMENT s 0ACKS UP TO TRAYS A MINUTE TH 3TREET .7 s !TLANTA '! 0HONE s WWW#!-OTIONCOM For more information, see Page 73 56 I MEAT&POULTRY I December 2005 I www.MEATPOULTRY.com 3EE A STREAMING VIDEO OF OUR CASEPACKER ON OUR WEBSITEhttp://www.MEATPOULTRY.com