Application Bulletin APYF09
Quadro Ytron
 

DISPERSING INGREDIENTS IN THE PRODUCTION OF SOFT DRINKS
 

Background

In the manufacture of soft drink syrups, gums (acacia and arabic), sugars/starches and oils are added to water. Traditionally a Tri-blender® or eductor is used to incorporate the powders in multiple passes. A piston homogenizer is used to reduce the oil droplets so that color ringing is prevented in the bottles. Unfortunately for soft drink syrup suppliers, homogenizers are expensive to maintain, and users of this type of equipment often look for other process equipment substitutes. Soft drink syrup suppliers require quick, lump free dispersion of the sugars, gums, flavours, and oils. An emulsification of the finished product is required to be less than or equal to 0.5 micron without the high maintenance costs associated with a piston homogenizer.

Quadro Ytron Performance

The Ytron Model XC1 was chosen for a trial run and set up in recirculation loop. An average of approximately 95 lbs per minute of gums and other powder ingredients were incorporated lump free. The color and flavor crystals were completely dissolved. The oil was effectively introduced via the Clean-In-Place (CIP) port at a rate of approximately 9 usgpm. The recirculation loop was not required as a single pass produced consistent quality product. The product contained oil with a droplet size of less than 0.5 micron forming a stable emulsion, thereby, eliminated the need for the piston homogenizer. The production scale model, the XC3, was able to incorporate gums and other powder ingredients at approximately 200 lbs per minute and reduced the overall batch time from 6 hours to approximately 45 minutes.

Equipment Recommendations

For high capacity production requirements, Quadro recommends the use of our XC technology for the in-line dispersion and mixing of sugar, gums, favorings and oils.

Summary

The Ytron XC in-line dispersion equipment disperses sugars, gums and oils into water lump free with lower operating costs than traditional methods. The major benefits from single pass operation include, significantly reduced batch times and repeatable/consistent results.