Snack Production Plants

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HEBENSTREIT supplies auto-mated extrusion plants for theproduction of savoury and sweetsnacks.

Our scope of supply ranges fromthe raw material mixer via the single-screw cooking extruderand all further processing ma-chines up to the product transferto systems for the continuous intermediate storage of the finalproducts prior to wrapping andpacking. It also includes equip-ment for the preparation of fillingsand coatings as well as auxiliarydevices for the manufacture ofspecial products.

Our competence in tailor-madesolutions and the realization ofcontinually new product ideas isone of our strengths. We con-sider ourselves to be a partner to the particularly innovative andtechnically sophisticated client.

Founded in 1898 in Radebeulnear Dresden, HEBENSTREIThas been based in Frankfurt amMain since 1950 and since 1978in Moerfelden-Walldorf in the im-mediate vicinity of the FrankfurtRhein-Main airport.

In 1997, the original company inRadebeul returned to the fold ofthe HEBENSTREIT Group whereparticularly the snack productionplants presented in this brochureare manufactured on ultramodernmachining centers.

We take good care of our cus-tomers who benefit from the support of a worldwide networkof representatives in virtually allcorners of the globe.

The Company Engineered Snacks

Besides the development ofmanufacturing equipment for already well-known andestablished quality productswe have been concentratingon developing innovativeproducts in close co-opera-tion with our customers.

A large selection of dies makes itpossible to manufacture productswith both simple shapes such ascurls, balls, rings or crispies, andalso 3-D shapes or even filledsnacks. Depending on the cus-tomer’s requirements, the prod-ucts can be developed on atailor-made basis as regards theirshape, their composition of ingre-dients and their texture.

Furthermore, additional compo-nents, such as shaping or cuttingsystems, facilitate an even greatervariety of product design.

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Engineered Snacks

Single-screw cooking extruder SE 70For the production of savouryand sweet filled and unfilledsnacks.Depending on the equipment, itis possible to make products withboth simple shapes such ascurls, balls, wheels, sticks, ringsor crispies, and also 3D shapesor cushion shapes.

Output:100 – 250 kg dried, unflavouredextrudates per hour, dependingon the raw materials used, therecipe and the desired sensoryqualities of the product and thequality requirements in terms ofshape, texture and taste.

Equipment:• Volumetric dosing device withrecipe-dependent dosingscrew, alternatively also avail-able in gravimetric version

• Special screw units with turbosystem

• Stator, two-part (transport zoneand compacting zone)

• Pressure plates in different designs

• Electric heating device for regu-lating the process temperature

• Automatic water cooling for thetemperature control of the ex-truder processing area and themain drive with connection toan existing cold water network

• Cutting system, rotating knivesat the head of the processingunit as well as knife drive allowsensitive adjustment during theongoing production process

• Main drive 54 kW, three-phasemotor (direct drive)

• Control cabinet, separatesetup, with PLC (SIEMENS), including air conditioner

• Operating panel for setting theextrusion process with displayof the following process data:– Screw rotation speed (revolutions per minute)

– Dosing device (kg per hour)– Torque of the direct drivemotor (Nm)

– Temperature in the transportzone (°C)

– Temperature of die head (°C)– Pressure in processing zone(bar)

– Dosing amount of filling mix-ture (kg per hour)

– Cutting speed (revolutionsper minute)

• Special cutting system SCS forcutting of sticks, flat breads,filled products, rods, etc. Theversatile cutting system can beused for various applicationsthanks to the two servo-con-trolled serrated knife drives.The desired product length iscontinuously variable. An up-stream cooling track is posi-tioned in front of the cuttingsystem.

Additional equipment:• Product-related die systemsand corresponding cutting ele-ments

• External cooling unit for con-nection to the automatic watercooling for the temperaturecontrol of the extruder process-ing area and the main drive.This allows for precise temper-ature regulation and minimalwater consumption.

Raw material mixer SRMHorizontally operating raw mate-rial mixer, designed for particu-larly complex raw materialmixtures. The components forthe selected recipe and the wateradded by means of the auto-matic water dosing system aremixed homogeneously.In case of simpler recipes, a cor -responding alternative is avail-able.

Intermediate container SZBThe capacity of the intermediatecontainer can cover the raw ma-terial requirement for approx. onehour of production. The stirrerused prevents the raw materialmixture from compacting and facilitates the emptying of the intermediate container.

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Drum drier STTFor drying the extrudates to thedesired residual moisture levelusing a rotating drum and a heat-ing system. The parameters ofthe drying process, such as thetemperature, air flow and rotationspeed of the drum, are set usinga separate operating panel.Depending on the additionalequipment, the drying is per-formed using either a hot air

Flavour drum SWTIn the rotating drum, dependingon the dosing system used, thedried extrudates are sprayed withseasoning.The drum has a special profilewhich ensures optimal mixing ofthe extrudates, thus achieving aneven application of the particularseasoning. Possible damage to

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Engineered Snacks

heating system, an infrared heat-ing system or a combination ofboth.

Hot air heating system:A radial medium pressure fandraws air from the environmentand guides it through an electric

Roller embossing system SKFFor shaping and pressing 2 filledor unfilled product strands. Bycorrespondingly arranging thepairs of forming rollers, square,rectangular, triangular, arrow-shaped or any other cushionshapes can be made. The sys-tem can optionally be equippedwith 2 or 4 pairs of formingrollers.

Intermediate cream containerCZB 60For the production of cream-filledproducts. Container with indirectelectric heating system.The cream is pumped directlyinto both product strands duringthe extrusion process by 2 spe-cial pumps.

air heater. The heated air then enters the drum drier through a pipe system.

Infrared heating system:An infrared module is used in the drying drum to dry and roast the product directly.The combined hot air and in-frared heating system containsboth systems for greater flexi -bility.

the extrudates is kept to a mini-mum. The rotation speed of theflavour drum is continuously adjustable using the operatingpanel.

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Seasoning dosing systemSWDSFor the production and applica-tion of savoury oil/spice suspen-sions or of sweet water-basedsolutions.This includes components withvarious densities, such as salt,spice powder, sugar, cocoapowder or aromas, which arepartially insoluble and where sedimentation must be excluded.In a heated mixing bowl,equipped with a turbo mixingtool, an oil suspension or a sweetwater-based mixture is homo -geneously mixed and heated tothe desired temperature.From a heated intermediate container, also equipped with a turbo mixing tool, the mixture is sprayed evenly on the dried extrudates via a dosing pumpand a spray system in the down-stream flavour drum.

Vegetable oil dosing systemSODSFor applying vegetable oil or forcombination with a dry seasoningdosing system.This system can also be used forparticularly delicate applicationsin which raw materials with verylow densities, such as herb mix-tures, can be processed.To ensure even temperature dis-tribution, the vegetable oil is per-manently circulated in a heatedmixing bowl using a stirrer. From an intermediate container,

also heated and equipped with astirrer, the vegetable oil is sprayedevenly on the dried extrudates viaa dosing pump and a spray sys-tem in the downstream flavourdrum.

Dry seasoning dosing systemFor dried seasoning which is ap-plied evenly to the extrudates inthe flavour drum using a dosinglance. The dosing is performedvolumetrically here.

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Engineered Snacks

The components for the selectedrecipe are first homogeneouslymixed in a raw material mixerSRM in batches and are moistur-ized in the process at the sametime.The raw materials used for theproduction of extruded snacks or breakfast cereals includeground cereal products such asmaize/corn, rice and wheat meal,as well as potato flakes or gran-ules. These raw materials, whichcontain starch, are the maincomponents and they can becombined with other ingredientssuch as common salt, sugar,cocoa or vegetable powder andwith flavours and emulsifiers.This mix of raw materials is thenfed to an intermediate con-tainer SZB by a screw con-veyor SFS, from which the rawmaterials are then conveyed on a continuous basis by anotherscrew conveyor SFS to the fill-ing container for the extruderdosing equipment.The dosing equipment for the extruder is equipped with a levelsensor. The constant fill level en-sures that the mix of raw materi-als is dosed into the extrudervery consistently.The core component of the snackproduction plant is the single-screw cooking extruder SE.The key components of the sin-gle-screw cooking extruder arethe dosing equipment, stator androtating screw, the surge andnozzle plate and the cutting andtemperature control unit.In the cooking extrusion processitself, also known as HTST (HighTemperature Short Time) extru-sion, raw materials containingstarch and protein are plasticizedand undergo structural modifica-tion under the influence of tem-perature, pressure and shearingtreatment in the extruder.Plastification has the effect ofthoroughly cooking and pulpingthe starch in the mix of raw mate-rials. Here the surge and nozzleplates generate very high pres-sure.

When the plasticized mass is dis-charged through the nozzle plate,the bulk of the water escapes inthe form of vapour, which leadsto the typical structure of theproducts. At the same time themass also expands as a result ofthe sudden drop in pressure tothe ambient pressure level. Theextruded products are then giventhe desired shape and texture bybeing cut by a rotating knife or a special cutting and mouldingdevice.The entire cooking extrusionprocess involves adjustableprocess parameters such asdosing levels, screw speeds,cylinder temperatures and cuttingspeeds.The pressure and temperature ispermanently monitored duringthe process itself. The tempera-ture in the infeed zone can becontrolled using a cooling unit.The extruded products are thenfed to a continuously rotatingdrum-type drier STT via a conveyor belt SFB. Drying isnecessary, because the productsstill have a moisture content of 6 – 8% after they have been dis-charged from the nozzle plate.The drying throughput time is ap-prox. 2 minutes, depending onthe desired texture, after whichthe residual moisture content isapprox. 1.5 – 3%. The throughputtime depends on the selecteddrum speed.The continuously rotating drum-type drier can be equipped withboth a hot air and an infrareddrying system. The higher tem-peratures in infrared drying pro-duce a roasted taste of the kindrequired for breakfast cereals.The dried products are then con-veyed to a continuously rotatingcylindrical flavour drum SWT viaa conveyor belt SFB, and thisdrum is combined with a sea-soning preparation and dosingsystem SWDS or a vegetableoil dosing system SODS. Herethe dried products are coveredwith a liquid mixture of mixedspices and vegetable oil.

Following temporary storage theseasoned products are fed to thedownstream packing machinesvia conveyor systems.

Process description

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No. 1: Savoury snacks

The conceptual design of asnack production plant is dependent on the products tobe manufactured and on thecapacity required.

Plants are designed to be asversatile as possible to pro-vide a high degree of flexibilityin order to be able to respondto steady market changes.

The examples shown only serve the general description of the productionprocess. Our project engineers draw up customized proposals for solutions, taking into consideration the products to be manufactured, the required outputand the space conditions given at the installation site.

Plant examples

1 6 72 3 4 5 8 9

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No. 3: Flat bread/sticks/spiral-shaped snacks

1 6 72 3 4 5 8 109

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No. 2: Filled cushion shapes

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6

72 3 4 5 8 9

No. 4: Sweet cereals and coated crispies

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10

6 8 112 3 4 5 7 129

1. Raw material mixer SRM2. Screw conveyor SFS3. Intermediate container SZB4. Screw conveyor SFS5. Single-screw cooking extruder SE6. Conveyor belt SFB

7. Drum drier STTwith infrared heating system

8. Conveyor belt SFB9. Flavour drum SWT10. Seasoning preparation system SWDS

and dosing unit

1. Raw material mixer SRM2. Screw conveyor SFS3. Intermediate container SZB4. Screw conveyor SFS5. Single-screw cooking extruder SE

6. Special cutting system SCS7. Conveyor belt SFB8. Drum drier STTwith infrared heating system

9. Conveyor belt SFB

10. Flavour drum SWT11. Seasoning preparation system SWDS

and dosing unit

1. Raw material mixer SRM2. Screw conveyor SFS3. Intermediate container SZB4. Screw conveyor SFS5. Single-screw cooking extruder SE

6. Intermediate cream container CZB7. Roller embossing system SKF8. Conveyor belt SFB9. Drum drier STTwith infrared heating system

1. Raw material mixer SRM2. Screw conveyor SFS3. Intermediate container SZB4. Screw conveyor SFS5. Single-screw cooking extruder SE

6. Conveyor belt SFB7. Drum drier STTwith infrared heating system

8. Conveyor belt SFB9. Flavour drum SWT

10. Seasoning preparation system SWDSand dosing unit

11. Conveyor belt SFB12. Drum drier STT

with hot air heating system

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Heb

enstreit GmbH

HEBENSTREIT GmbHP.O. Box 1263 · 64527 Mörfelden-WalldorfHessenring 16 · 64546 Mörfelden-Walldorf

GermanyPhone: +49 (0) 6105/202-0E-mail: info@hebenstreit.de

www.hebenstreit.de

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