Millers Foods are an independent 100% Australian owned and operated flour mill servicing the needs of the Western Australian baking industry. Since their establishment in 1999, they have been producing a wide range of baking products and services to commercial and home bakers, including flours, meals and grains, breads and rolls pre-mixes, baking ingredients, margarines and shortening, cake premixes and millrun products. Competing in a market dominated by large food conglomerates, Millers Foods credits their sustained success to their dedication to “doing the hard things better”. This mindset was also key when they improved their white flour production process, using a vertical conveyor for their challenging conveying requirements.
Vertical transfer required up several processing storeys
In 2014, as part of their due diligence and quality control, Millers Foods added an additional step to their white flour production: sieving. Sieving was inserted between milling and product transfer to bulk silo storage. Implementing this process innovation presented the following logistical and conveying challenges:
- Space and height constraints – to elevate flour from the first-floor mill to the fourth-floor six-stage multi-deck sieve a near vertical transfer angle was required.
- Diverting products not destined for bulk storage – the installation of a diverter valve was required to divert products needing alternative or additional processing.
- Sealed process transfer – a fully enclosed system was required to eliminate dust and allow full batch transfers.
Millers Foods’ Production Manager at the time researched suitable bulk material handling equipment and soon narrowed down his search to bucket elevators and aero-mechanical conveyors.
After evaluating multiple conveying technologies including bucket elevators, Millers Foods determined that the most effective solution for their space restraints and elevation requirements was a Floveyor aero-mechanical conveying (AMC) system. Floveyor’s FloDisc® technology uses centrifugal force to suspend materials in an air pocket and propel them to a collection point, through a fully enclosed tube. This conveying method enables vertical transfers of up to 20 m – and Millers Foods’ requirements of elevating flour across four floors.
Millers Foods also knew they could trust Floveyor equipment because of their reputation and longstanding experience in conveying for the food and beverage industry. “The simplicity of the Floveyor FloDisc® technology and huge portfolio of existing food applications gave me huge confidence on my choice of the solution and supplier,” their Production Manager said.
The Floveyor AMC’s fully enclosed system design met Millers Foods’ need for a sealed process transfer. The enclosed system eliminates dust, spillage and product wastage and allows for total batch transfers.
A diverter valve, placed at the end of the conveyor’s outlet, offered the required flexibility by directing materials to multiple destinations. It allows for seamless redirection of products that require alternative or additional processing, such as routing items to different types of packaging machines for specific handling requirements.
Floveyor provides end-to-end service for vertical conveyor system integration
Floveyor worked with Millers Foods to develop a project scope that covered every stage of the white flour process innovation from design to commissioning, including the interface connections from the existing mill to the exit process and the new sieve.
Millers Foods’ agreed system comprises a 3-inch or F3 conveyor with 24-degree operating angle and overall length of 6.63m. The infeed housing incorporates a process type hopper and manual sliding baffle to give variable control for a range of products and flow characteristics with its ability of adjusting the angular gap into the conveyor.
Vertical conveying with Floveyor implementation surpasses expectation
Millers Foods’ custom designed vertical conveyor exceeded output expectations by delivering dust free, total batch transfers of four grades of white flour with a bulk density range between 600 – 1,000 kg/m3 at a rate of 5,000 to 6,000 kgs/hour.
Millers Foods’ operation is experiencing high product feed rates to the sieve as well as improved feed rates to all other process stages as a result of continuous, gentle aero-mechanical conveying. In addition to increased transfer rate, Millers Foods has reduced their maintenance and cleaning downtime thanks to the fully enclosed vertical conveying system and ease of cleanability.
Our satisfied customer and Production Manager at Millers Foods gave the final word on their Floveyor system:
“The advantages of the Floveyor’s operation is benefiting our current process lines but also our new sieve as having an aerated feed means the sieve is not working as hard as if it had a dump feed on the mesh. The Floveyor also removed the need for ventilation at the sieve due to its recirculation of displaced air.“
Vertical conveyor: More information
If you need conveying machinery and bulk material handling equipment for your food and beverage operation, a Floveyor with FloDisc® Technology will optimise your powder handling. Contact us to learn more.
