Industry sector: Manufacture of cocoa, chocolate and confectionery products (NAF 2008 Code: 1082ZZ)
Company activity: The company specialises in the manufacture and marketing of cocoa and cocoa-derived products
Company type: International company
Year of establishment: 1989
Contact(s): Group Buyer
Company context
Our client is the world’s leading manufacturer of high-quality chocolate and cocoa-based products, mastering every stage of the value chain, from raw material sourcing to the production of premium chocolates. The company is the heart and driving force of the chocolate industry, and its mission is to be number one across all attractive customer segments.
Filtration challenge
Following the signing of a new partnership with the German company Kronsbein Ultrafilter GmbH, we approached this company to offer our solutions in compressed air and sterile gas filtration. The company responded positively by submitting two projects to us:
- The replacement of the existing filter elements with the objective of reducing purchasing costs;
- The supply of four filtration assemblies (skids) to sterilise compressed air at the point of use.
Pemflow filtration solution
Replacement of filter elements
Our client uses three types of filters: oil-removal filters, activated carbon filters, as well as filters for the sterilisation of compressed air; compressed air required for the conveying of food products.
Oil-removal filters: MF-type micro filter elements from Kronsbein Ultrafilter
Thanks to the unique combination of nanofibre filter media and pleating technology, these filters are designed to remove water and oil aerosols, as well as particles contained in compressed air and gases.
This technology results in a 70% reduction in energy costs and enhanced filtration performance.
The oleophobic media repels oil and water. As a result, pressure drop and maintenance operations are reduced to a minimum compared with conventional technologies.
Activated carbon filters of the AK type from Kronsbein Ultrafilter
The activated carbon filters are designed to effectively remove oil vapours and hydrocarbons.
They consist of two filtration stages:
- The nanofibre depth media captures particles
- While the activated carbon adsorbs oil vapours and hydrocarbons
The residual oil content is below 0.003 mg/m³, taking into account upstream protection by coalescing filters to remove liquid oil.
Expert advice
Ambient air is contaminated with particles. One cubic metre of air can contain more than 190 million particles, including biological and non-biological particles, bacteria, viruses, oil and water. After air compression, the concentration of contaminants increases considerably. It is therefore necessary to filter this compressed air in order to protect processes and production machinery.
Sterilising filters of the P-SRF type from Kronsbein Ultrafilter
Composed of a three-dimensional borosilicate depth filtration media, this filter achieves a void volume of 95%, ensuring high containment capacity at high flow rates and a low differential pressure.
The inner and outer supports, as well as the end caps, are made of stainless steel. The retention efficiency of 99.99998% corresponds to a filtration rating of 0.2 µm. These filter elements can be sterilised. Sterilisation can be carried out in-line or by steam in an autoclave.
Our compressed air filtration solutions fully met our client’s needs and requirements, both in terms of filter installation and functional performance. In addition, we were able to offer a cost reduction to our contact responsible for group purchasing.
Supply of four filtration assemblies (skids)
At the point of use, our client required a complete system for the sterilisation of compressed air. We proposed a filtration skid comprising three filtration stages in order to achieve the objective of compressed air sterilisation.
Namely
All our sterile filters are approved and validated in accordance with FDA CFR Title 21 / EC 1935/2004.
The three filtration stages are composed as follows:
- A prefiltration stage consisting of an aluminium filter with pressure gauge and float drain, plus an MF 04/20 type filter element
- An activated carbon filtration stage consisting of an aluminium filter with float drain, plus an AK 04/20 type filter element
- Finally, a sterilising filtration stage consisting of a sterile filter housing and a P-SRF type filter element
All filter housings and filter elements are manufactured by our partner Kronsbein Ultrafilter.
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