SPX FLOW’s Scraped Surface Heat Exchanger Helps Reduce Energy Costs and Emissions

Margarine and shortening producers report a decrease in 30% of costs and 200 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually per production line

Charlotte, N.C., October 27, 2022 – SPX FLOW, Inc., a leading provider of process solutions for the nutrition, health and industrial markets, reports that customers who use its latest scraped surface heat exchanger (SSHE), Nexus, in margarine and shortening production are better able to meet sustainability and business goals by reducing emissions and cost.

Nexus, the latest SSHE design made by SPX FLOW’s Gerstenberg Schröder brand, is a critical piece of equipment in forming the correct crystal structure in products like margarine, shortenings and other fats and oils products.

Nexus uses carbon dioxide (CO₂) as a refrigerant rather than the traditional freon (HFC or HCFC) or ammonia (NH₃).

“While most companies still use ammonia or freon, SPX FLOW has pushed for innovation by switching to carbon dioxide,” said Alf Sievers, Global Product Manager at SPX FLOW. “We pride ourselves on being solution makers, and our customers’ data proves how much Nexus makes a difference as we find the safest, most sustainable way to help our customers.”

Data shows that when customers began using the Nexus, each line improved its heat transfer by approximately 30% compared to other refrigerants. The data also confirms that the product quality improved compared to lines using other refrigerants.

Each line also reduces the annual CO₂ emissions to the environment by about 200 tons annually when using CO₂ compared to other refrigerants because of the higher efficiency. That’s roughly the same weight as 30 African elephants.

SPX FLOW recommends CO₂ refrigerant because it’s safer and more sustainable than traditional refrigerants used in SSHE. Ammonia (NH₃) is toxic — leaks can harm workers. And if freon leaks, it is harmful to the environment.

CO₂ refrigerant is considered “cleaner” due to its Global Warming Potential (GWP) of one, according to the California Air Resources Board. Some types of freon, meanwhile, have a GWP potential of almost 4,000.

“Businesses are looking for more ways to be sustainable and meet climate goals, and results like this are an important step that helps do that,” said Sievers. “We will continue to work to innovate and create new ways to partner with our customers on this front.”

To learn more, visit: https://www.spxflow.com/gerstenberg-schroder/

About SPX FLOW, Inc.

Based in Charlotte, N.C., SPX FLOW, Inc. improves the world through innovative and sustainable solutions. The company’s product offering is concentrated in process technologies that perform mixing, blending, fluid handling, separation, thermal heat transfer and other activities that are integral to processes performed across a wide variety of nutrition, health and industrial markets.  SPX FLOW had approximately $1.5 billion in 2021 annual revenues and has operations in more than 30 countries and sales in more than 140 countries. To learn more about SPX FLOW, please visit www.spxflow.com. 

About the Nexus

HEAT EXCHANGERS / SCRAPED SURFACE HEAT EXCHANGERS

Nexus is a compact, high-capacity, high-pressure scraped surface heat exchanger designed for various high-viscosity applications within the Fats & Oils industry. It is designed for low energy consumption using CO₂ as the highly efficient cooling medium, but it can also be used with the traditional ammonia NH₃. It provides high crystallization performance, minimal downtime, and easy maintenance. 

FEATURES

Nexus is designed to meet market demand for high-quality products combined with low-cost production. With Nexus you can produce the entire range of crystallizing Fats & Oils products, i.e., consumer margarine, industrial margarine, shortening, low-fat spreads, recombined butter and butter blends.

Nexus consists of up to 4 chilling tubes, all equipped with individual cooling systems, and can be operated with CO₂ or ammonia as the refrigerant. It was one of the first scraped surface heat exchangers to use the environmentally friendly CO₂ as refrigerant. The advantage of CO₂ over traditional ammonia (NH₃) is the higher efficiency which results in more cost-efficient production. Should you choose ammonia initially, you can change the refrigerant to CO₂ operation at a later stage. The design is robust, reliable, and built to last to meet our customers’ ever changing production requirements. Nexus complies with all major pressure vessel directives.

Function and Principles of Operation

Crystallization takes place in the scraped surface heat exchanger (SSHE) which is the heart of a Fats & Oils (F&O) crystallization line. The product is pumped into the chilling tubes where it is cooled and crystallized. Scrapers in the rotor system are then pressed against the chilling tube by constant centrifugal forces during rotation ensuring that the crystallized product is very efficiently scraped from the interior tube surface.

Capacity

up to 13.4 t/h

Benefits

• Multi-purpose machine for all edible Fats & Oils (F&O) products.
• Hygienic design suitable for the food industry.
• All product contacting parts are made in stainless steel AISI 316 or better.
• Completely sealed, fully insulated, corrosion-free stainless steel casing guarantees years of trouble-free operation.
• Special, corrugated multi-layer chromed chilling tubes for improved heat transmission value.
• The chilling tubes can easily be inspected and replaced.
• Optional rotor systems with scrapers in a selection of different materials depending on the application.
• Low energy production of crystallized fat products. Test results show that using CO₂ at -10°C reduces energy consumption in the refrigeration system by up to 30% compared to an ammonia compressor at -20°C.
• Reduction in heat transfer costs. CO₂ is a very efficient refrigerant which has an external heat transfer coefficient which is
  2-3 times higher than that of ammonia and which will increase the total heat flux by up to 40%.
• Heat recovery system possible. When using CO₂ as the refrigerant, it is possible to install and use heat recovery systems to save energy. The heat recovery can offer useable water at up to 90°C, which can be used elsewhere in the plant. Up to 70% of the energy can be recovered.
• CO₂ as refrigerant provides lower investment costs for CO₂ refrigeration system compared with ammonia.
• Minimum downtime as CIP cycles are fast and efficient, and maintenance procedures are simple.
• The low energy motors and the cast iron gear boxes yield maximum power while keeping noise levels to a minimum.
• Small footprint which optimizes the floor space and the piping requirements.

KEY APPLICATIONS

Fats & Oils

• Cake and cream margarine
• Low fat spreads
• Puff pastry margarine
• Recombined butter
• Shortening
• Smooth ghee
• Spreadable butter
• Table margarine
• Trans free table margarine

Media Contact:
Melissa Buscher, Chief Communications and Marketing Officer
Melissa.Buscher@spxflow.com