Wagner Frozen Foods: Thepizza baker and IceDry®A delicious challenge

Foodstuffs are perishable goods, whether they’re raw, baked or frozen. Ifthe surrounding climate is not appropriate they become sticky, lumpy,mouldy or discoloured. Quality suffers, leading to lost production,stoppages or spoilt products.

Fortunately it’s possible to control conditions throughout the conveying,freezing and storage. This guarantees consistent quality, and providesconsiderable cost savings and increased productivity. The key is tocontrol the humidity of the surrounding atmosphere. Wagner’s deepfrozen stone-baked pizzas, piccolinis and American-style pizzas useMunters IceDry® systems, to substantially reduce ice and frost formingduring processing and storage.

Within IceDry® is a Munters sorption dehumidifier specially developedfor low humidity and temperature levels. The moist air is dehumidifieduntil the dew point of the dry air is below the dew point temperature ofproduct and various parts of the plant, so condensation does not occur.

Wagner use Munters IceDry® on both their spiral freezers andrefrigeration plant to optimise productivity. Wagner operate a 3-shiftround-the-clock operation, and ater shaping and baking, the pizza is thenquick frozen for storage. The product is placed on a multi-level conveyorthat feeds into a spiral freezer and is quick frozen by cold air blowingthrough the conveyor belts at -40ºC. The deep-frozen pizzas are thenremoved from the freezer, packaged and stored.

The quick frozen process means rapid throughput and is a smoothoperation, because whatever the conditions, the IceDry® system adapts tothem.

Prevent frost in freezing

• Increase production capacity

• Prevent ice on conveyors

• Fewer stoppages due to defrost and cleaning

• Improved temperature control

• Reduced investment to increase freezer capacity

• Payback less than one year

The Humidity Expert

Within the spiral freezer, the productitself brings humidity, and due to thewide difference in temperature andpressure between the ambient air andthat in the freezer, warm, moist airstreams into the -40ºC freezer throughthe openings, through which theproduct is fed. The result is frosting andicing up of the conveyor belts andrefrigeration components, causingfrequent interruptions to defrost andclean the plant.

Munters provided a reliable solution, asthe moist air is extracted at the openingswhere the product enters the freezer andis passed through the IceDry® system,where it is dehumidified to below thedew point temperature of the spiralfreezer. The now dry air is then fed backinto the freezer.

The dry air produced by MuntersIceDry® system considerably extendsproduction times between stoppages fordefrosting. This increases productionthroughput and makes savings along theentire product line, a major advantage ina round-the-clock full load productionprocess. Since the spacing on theconveyor belts remains constant,consistent quick freezing is guaranteed. The cost-benefit ratio is improved and asa result, profitability.

Atmospheric conditions are optimised inthe refrigeration plant too. The entirecold storage depot is kept at atemperature of -24ºC. Only theseparate loading area is at a temperatureof -8ºC. When the loading doors areopened, the outside air leads to anincrease in humidity. If the doors to theanteroom, which is kept at atemperature of -24ºC, are then opened,the great temperature and pressuredifference causes additional warm, moistair from the loading area to flow into theanteroom.

Installing a Munters IceDry® systemmeant the dew point lies below theprevailing temperature, whichconsiderably reduces the formation of iceand frosting on the air-cooler. Thisprevents mechanical moving parts of thevertical conveyor belt from slowingdown or becoming completely blocked. Icing up of the refrigerationcomponents, including the evaporatorand condensation tray, is also reduced. Were this not the case, valuable energyand time would be expended ondefrosting.

The IceDry® system ensures that thedew point lies below the prevailingtemperature. The system draws moistair directly from the surroundingatmosphere and dehumidifies it to a dewpoint below the surface temperature ofthe coldest parts. The dry air is fed backinto the anteroom, combating theformation of ice and frosting. All in all,this saves costly energy and time,ensuring Wagner’s high product qualityand minimises the risk of accidents. Therecipe for dry air is not a secret, why notlook on www.munters.com/food for awealth of case studies - it’s worth thevisit.

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