Freeze Dryers

Freeze drying is the drying of an already frozen product in a vacuum below the triple point. The vacuum allows for a sublimation process facilitating the direct conversion of ice into vapor without any intermediate liquid stage. This results in an extremely gentle drying process preserving the product's shape, color, taste, and nutrients.

The range of NIRO® Freeze Dryers for food and beverage applications are available as batch and continuous plants - RAY® and CONRAD® - and applied for numerous applications, including:

Instant Coffee and Tea
Freeze dried fruits/vegetables, meat/seafood and prepared meals
Active ingredients like probiotics, enzymes and other functional ingredients for food and health products

Pol's freeze drying facility in Ermenek, Turkey

Pol’s and GEA supporting local, sustainable agriculture together

GEA secured a third contract from Pol’s to deliver and install RAY® freeze drying equipment at their facility site in Ermenek, Turkey.

The evolution of Thrive Life’s freeze drying business

Thrive Life markets a wide range of freeze-dried foods, including fruit, vegetables, meat, fish and ready meals predominantly sold in the United States and Canada from their headquarters near Salt Lake City, Utah

Products

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CONRAD® Freeze Dryer

The CONRAD® freeze drying plant is designed for high-volume continuous processing of products such as coffee and tea, fruit and vegetables, meat and seafood as well as prepared meals. The CONRAD® Freeze Dryer is the heart of most freeze-dried instant coffee factories where is renowned not only for delivering superior products but also for its rob...

Freeze dryer upgrades

Solutions to improve plant performance, safety, process control and resource-efficiency in freeze drying.

GEA Liquid Nitrogen Freezer

For the rapid and optimal freezing of sensitive food, beverage and fermentation-derived ingredients, immersion in liquid nitrogen provides a number of benefits. The simple-to-use Liquid Nitrogen Freezer from GEA delivers stable, uniformly frozen pellets that are free flowing.

RAY® Freeze Dryer

The RAY® batch freeze drying plant is designed for production of small-to-medium-volume products such as instant coffee and tea, freeze dried fruit, vegetables, meat, seafood and prepared meals. It is also available in a fully sanitary design for freeze drying of bacteria, enzymes, and other bioactive products.

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GEA Insights

The breakthrough that changed spray drying

In 1976, NIRO engineers responded to a competitive challenge by rethinking what spray drying could do. Their idea became the multi-stage dryer MSD. Fifty years later, the same fundamental principle helps turn liquids into the powders used in essential nutrition products and important medicines around the world. Refined through decades of engineering expertise, customer insight and continuous development, MSD is a story of innovation with lasting impact.

Beyond the machine: unlocking better plant performance

An efficient machine does not automatically make an efficient factory. Real improvement often starts by looking beyond individual equipment and understanding how processes, energy systems and operating decisions affect one another. It’s a holistic approach designed to uncover opportunities that might otherwise be missed.

How a valve reshapes the way food and drinks are made

In food and beverage plants, valves are commonly operated using compressed air. GEA Hydract® Actuation Technology moves valves with water instead, in a closed, digitally controlled circuit. The result is a valve that can be held exactly in place and steered in fine-tuned steps. This results in lower energy use and greater control.