Dry salt dosage systems from GEA are constructed around a double truncated cone-shaped dry salt vat, which is kept in constant rotation to help stop the salt clumping, and is heated via an external jacket.
The tank contains spoons that scoop the salt into a hopper, from where it is transferred to a conveyor pipe. At the end of this pipe a variable-speed auger system transfers the salt to the curd coming out of the stretching machine. The curd cheese is transferred to a Teflon-coated chute in which it is flattened by an adjustable paddle. The cheese is transported along this chute to a rotating drum. A sensor system automatically detects the thickness and speed of the stretched pasta filata as it moves along the chute, and this data is sent to a PLC that adjusts the speed of the salt distribution auger, to ensure that the precise amount of salt is dosed then dosed. The cheese and salt are combined in a rotating drum and transferred to a kneading unit that contains counter-rotating augers. From here the salted pasta filata cheese is transferred to the molding station.
The cheese and salt mixing tunnel can be configured with pipework for connection to a cleaning-in-place (CIP) plant. Whey and cleaning solutions from CIP are collected in a vat that is connected to a centrifugal pump. Servo-motor drives operating the salt distribution and mixing augers guarantee precise, reliable operation.
Offering automated adjustment and fine control, GEA salt dosage systems are accurate to within 0.1% salt dosing. The units are constructed using stainless steel AISI 316 to withstand the corrosive activity of salt.
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