RAY® Freeze Dryer
Freeze drying is a great way of preserving a wide range of fresh foods, from fish and meats, to fruits, vegetables, probiotics and coffee.
We’ve spent 75 years developing a broad and adaptable range of freeze drying systems so that you, our customer, can innovate, create, and bring to market freeze dried products that will be competitive in well-established markets and in new and niche areas. We’ve designed our family of RAY® batch freeze drying plants to combine efficiency, reliability and great functionality with user friendly operation and automation that keeps you in control. Whatever your product type, market, challenges or size, we’ll aim to configure a RAY® freeze drying system that will give you top performance right from day one.
Decades of experience freeze drying a wide range of applications
The first RAY® freeze drying plant was installed in 1955, so we really can say that we have focused many decades of expertise developing state-of-the-art freeze drying technologies so that our customers can innovate and push boundaries. And it’s not all about ready meals, fruit, coffee and petfood. We’ve carried out more than 3000 tests and worked with about 1000 product types. Supported by RAY® freeze drying technology and GEA expertise, manufacturers around the world are moving into bold new markets, from candy to paint.
A wealth of freeze drying opportunities
Freeze drying is a proven food preservation technology that presents many opportunities for creating new products that meet growing markets and expectations for healthy, sustainable foods and ingredients.
Freeze drying is really versatile, and can be used to process a wide range of food types, from coffee and herbs, to dietary supplements and ready meals, so you can think creatively and develop new concepts.
Freeze-dried fruits & vegetables
Freeze dried fruits and vegetables offer strong competition in the demanding market for healthy foods and on-the-go convenience.
Freeze-dried pet food
Freeze drying produces a shelf-stable, high quality product that retains much of the nutrition, taste, color, and shape of the original constituents, supporting pet health.
Freeze-dried bacteria cultures
Freeze drying is an idea way to preserve the viability and activity of sensitive starter cultures, probiotics, yeast, fungi and enzymes.
Freeze-dried seafood
Freeze drying can unlock new product development opportunities and add significant value to premium fish, shellfish, seaweed and algae.
Freeze-dried coffee
Freeze drying preserves the aroma, flavor and quality of concentrated coffee extract, delivering a superior product that meets the highest market expectations.
Freeze-dried candy
Freeze drying preserves the candy’s original shape and flavor, while transforming its texture from chewy or sticky to light and crunchy.
Freeze-dried dairy products
Freeze-drying can convert yogurt, cheese and cream into light, rehydratable pieces or powders that have a long shelf life without refrigeration
Industrial freeze dryers for more sustainable food manufacturing
Freeze dried products also require no refrigeration for long term storage or long distance transport, which not only helps to reduce waste, but can offer up all sorts of potential for new export markets, as well as simplifying transport logistics for local and national markets. For food producers, freeze drying offers up new prospects for creating additional value from perishable fresh foods, for preserving surplus crops and “wonky foods” and preventing waste. So as well as setting the stage for product innovation and generating new revenue streams, freeze drying helps to support a greener future both for you and for your customers.
Why freeze drying?
Key benefits of freeze drying:
- Supports maximum retention of nutrition, taste and aroma, color, shape and texture
- Creates a product that can be rehydrated with water for simple, fast preparation
- Maintains product stability for a long shelf life at ambient temperatures
- Preserves perishable or surplus foods to reduce food waste
- Reduces or completely cuts the need for cold chain distribution, which reduces carbon footprint
- Preserves products with low weight and easy handling, which cuts shipping costs.
From pilot plant to large-scale freeze drying
At GEA we have developed a portfolio of freeze drying systems for processing a wide range of foods and beverages. Our RAY® family of batch freeze drying plants combines cost efficient, automated operation with great functionality and reliability. Systems can be configured to process input volumes from about 20-30 kg/day (RAY®1), up to 20-30 T/day (6 x RAY®125). Designed to be adaptable so you can freeze dry a wide range of food types, the RAY® technology can also be supplied with full sanitary design, for freeze drying bacteria, enzymes and other bioactive products.
The RAY® batch freeze dryer technology offers:
- Fast and uniform drying
- High sublimation capacity
- Precise control of temperature and vacuum
- Negligible product loss (less than 0.1%)
- Easy access for cleaning and maintenance
- Simple and reliable operation
SSS Strawberries
GEA partnership enables farming family to transform food waste into premium products with global opportunities
Pol's
In partnership with community farmers, Pol’s processes a wide range of freeze dried fruits and vegetables, producing bulk freeze dried products for industrial and commercial applications.
RAY® Pilot Plant
A compact, flexible solution for testing new products, recipes, and processes. Ideal for research, development and initial validation.
RAY® Freeze Dryer
A robust and proven system for medium-to-large batch production. Balances efficiency and quality across a wide range of applications.
RAY® Plus Freeze Dryer
Our most advanced solution, designed for high-capacity, automated production. Includes integrated controls and energy-efficient features.
RAY® pilot plant freeze dryers
Of course, GEA offers a range of freeze drying systems to match our customers’ products, site setup and business goals. The RAY® Pilot Plant is a batch-based freeze drying system designed to process a range of general food products like freeze dried fruit and vegetables, freeze dried meat and seafood as well as sensitive products including lactic acid bacteria, enzymes and lactoferrin. A true plug-and-play system requiring only water and power supply, the RAY®1 is fully scalable to industrial systems.
A dedicated freeze drying test center and GEA RAY® rental freeze dryers
We want you to be confident that your GEA freeze drying equipment will give you great performance for all of your products. At our GEA center of excellence you can work with our experts to evaluate your processes, test new recipes, and configure the best GEA system for your needs. Whether you are new to freeze drying, or you want to upgrade, expand and diversify, we’ll sit with you, listen to your challenges and expectations, and help to select and configure the right technology. We also offer rental pilot equipment for on-site development, with expert engineers ensuring seamless startup and staff training.
Freeze Drying Newsletter
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How freeze drying works: explore the process
Want to learn more an understand what makes freeze drying so effective? Our short explainer video shows how the process works and why it’s such a valuable technology for today’s food systems.
Want to know more? Get in touch with our experts today
Next generation freeze dryers – GEA RAY® Plus
We’ve developed the next generation of GEA freeze dryers - RAY® Plus – to combine the latest design in industrial scale freeze drying with some major improvements in energy efficiency, productivity and ease of cleaning.
Backed by 70 years of GEA expertise in freeze drying R&D and engineering, our RAY® Plus freeze dryers (patent pending) are designed to give your large-scale processes a real boost, with a redesigned chamber that can offer better resource efficiency coupled with lower associated costs. By reducing the pressure losses in the chamber, this new design allows for an impressive 30% greater capacity when compared with existing RAY® freeze dryers of equivalent footprint, which effectively increases throughput while optimizing space utilization. The RAY® Plus chamber is designed to enable thorough, fast cleaning, while the human-friendly user interface supports remote access.
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