Industry:
Food processing
Application:
Conveying potato chip dough
Product:
FGP Food Grade Precleaner
Objectives:
Remove product carryback on the conveyor belt
Reduce wasted food materials
Reduce maintenance time
Conveyor Detail
18" wide rubber modified vinyl belt
Endless splice
6" head pulley
Problem:
The wet and sticky nature of potato chip dough was a problem for a U.S. snack food manufacturer. Since the dough was sprayed onto the belt during one of the processing steps, it adhered firmly to the belt and was too sticky for the homemade belt cleaner to handle. This carryback issue led to sticky conveyor components that needed constant cleaning and also resulted in loss of product.
Solution:
Since making potato chip dough less sticky is not an option, the maintenance coordinator decided to try the FGP Food Grade Precleaner from Flexco. Designed for the toughest food applications, the FGP has a spring tensioner that can be easily adjusted to ensure optimal blade-to-belt contact, which maximizes the cleaning capabilities.
Result:
The maintenance coordinator finds the performance of the belt cleaner outstanding across the belt width in the initial testing and has been impressed with the consistent performance of the cleaner over time. The cleaner reduces the amount of carryback on the belt, which also reduces scrap by 60% over the homemade cleaner.