Faced with fruit costs ramping up and water limitations, FTN wanted to make the most of every part of the lemons, oranges and clementines they process at their facility in south-east Spain.
That meant not just ensuring they got the most juice out of the fruit but also that they could extract as much valuable citrus oil as possible from the remaining materials, such as peel.
A long-standing relationship with Alfa Laval’s Spanish team meant the expertise and equipment was available to deliver the flexible and cost-effective solution they wanted. FTN targeted the very latest technology in Alfa Laval’s CR750, a disc stack separation system specifically designed for citrus applications. This joined the CR250 already in operation from 2018 on the peel-processing line to give FTN a comprehensive and flexible line-up of Alfa Laval technology.
Thanks to the high efficiency of Alfa Laval machines, only two separation stages are required. In the first stage, the CR750 achieves an oil concentration in the light phase of 65–80%, with oil losses in the heavy phase kept below 0.1% — an exceptional performance. It also offers the flexibility to handle a wide range of flow rates, from 10,000 to 24,000 litres per hour. In the second stage, the CR250 further refines the process, increasing the oil concentration to over 99%, while keeping total losses under 0.1%.
Jose Manuel Guijarro, Head of Production at Fruit Tech, says: “Thanks to the Alfa Laval unit, we can achieve high yields even with poor emulsions containing less than 1% oil. Additionally, Alfa Laval provides fantastic technical assistance as part of their customer service.”
In terms of estimated payback savings, with a 100,000-tonne fruit harvest and an average yield of 2.5 kg oil per tonne, this represents 250,000 kg of oil.
The payback for an entire line can easily be one year. For just the separator, that payback could be between two to six months*.”
Citrus fruits entering Fruit Tech’s production facility
“Even now some processors produce only juice, and really that is just pouring money down the drain, and at Alfa Laval, that’s not something we like to see,” says Belen Villalba, Alfa Laval business developer and specialist in high-speed separators in Spain. “There is real value to be found in citrus oil for use as a flavouring or in the cosmetic industry. Moreover, it gives an important boost to ensure less waste in your processing. Not only is more extracted from the fruit through oil recovery, but the remaining byproducts from both processes are also used to produce animal feed—ensuring that no part of the fruit goes to waste.”
“Fruit Tech have long identified the value of the oil, and they knew we could help them maximize their processing in this area as they’ve been using our equipment on their line for some time.”
Flexibility is an important part of the offering because FTN are processing different fruits and the volumes can change depending on the season, and with Alfa Laval’s separators they can adjust the interface to suit the circumstances, giving a real ease of operation.
Meanwhile the Hermetic Design™ ensures no oxygen pick-up, which is good for the quality of the oil, keeping the aroma, taste and enhancing the shelf-life of the product.
All of this allows FTN to focus on extracting the maximum amount of citrus oil, which is crucial given the huge changes that have hit the fruit processing industry in recent years, and the sometime volatile market, which has seen the price of fruit rising from around 150 EUR per tonne to 300-350 EUR per tonne over the last few years.
Belen says: “The customer is delighted with these results and overall, this has been a great relationship that has been going on for a number of years. This trust and confidence opens the door to constructive dialogue and delivers the results we are seeing now.”
The Alfa Laval team with a Fruit Tech representative at the facility
Source: ww.alfalaval.com
