Food Side-Stream Valorisation: A Resilient Food System

Allowing pristine food side streams (such as spent brewers grain, sweet whey, or citrus peel) to mix into common floor drains alongside caustic CIP washes or washdown debris contaminates the stream with severe bio-burden and chemical toxins, permanently eliminating food- or feed-grade valorisation. Hygienic closed segregation at machine discharge protects biological purity, unlocking high-value ingredient extraction.

Extraction slurries derived from food pomace carry coarse cellulose fragments, seeds, and viscous pectinous gums. SonFlow Free Flow plates feature generous wide plate gaps (up to 12mm) and corrugation geometries engineered with zero metal-to-metal contact points along flow streamlines. Suspended solids and fibers glide through freely without bridging or entrapment, sustaining high thermal transfer rates.

Thickened side-stream pastes leaving decanters or centrifuges exhibit high dry-solids concentrations (30-40% DS) and non-Newtonian plastic rheologies that completely stall standard centrifugal pumps. ABEL HM pumps combine reciprocating mechanical pistons hydraulically coupled to isolating membranes, generating continuous positive pressures up to 16-25 bar to push dense cakes through long-distance pipelines without mechanical wear.

Raw biogas generated by anaerobic digestion of organic food residues contains methane, CO2, saturated water vapor, and corrosive traces of hydrogen sulfide (H2S). Mehrer compressors utilize a crosshead design with dual distance pieces completely separating the gas compression cylinder from crankcase lubrication. With zero oil in the gas stream, it eliminates lubricant contamination and prevents acid corrosion.