Posted to News on 23rd Jan 2015, 15:56
Infra-red heating systems helps maintain chocolate quality
A precisely controllable, two-zone carbon infra-red heating system from Heraeus Noblelight is helping to ensure consistent chocolate quality at Ashbury Chocolates Ltd, of Corby, by pre-heating chocolate moulds prior to filling. The quartz infra-red system also saves considerable space over the metal element heating system which was previously employed.
Ashbury Chocolates is a leading manufacturer of chocolate and toffee and supplies a range of confectionery products to major UK retailers and the global market. Essentially, the production of moulded chocolate involves depositing liquid chocolate into polycarbonate moulds. However, it is important that the moulds are pre-heated to a specific temperature before the chocolate is poured. If the moulds are too warm, the chocolate can change its characteristics and detemper. If they are too cold, the poured chocolate will lose shape and possibly crack.
In an effort to solve this problem, Ashbury contacted Heraeus Noblelight, who installed the 18kW carbon medium wave infra-red cassette. This pre-heats the moulds from 16degC to 30-32degC at a line speed of up to 14 moulds per minute. The infra-red cassette is split into two zones, each of which contains three emitters, and each zone is individually controlled by an optical pyrometer.
Alan Milligan, engineering manager at Ashbury, is very pleased with the installation. As he explains: "Previously, we had trouble with the metal element system and frequent breakdowns resulted in rejected product. The new system, which was easy to retro-fit, has proved to be extremely reliable. As the polycarbonate moulds absorb the infra-red heat completely, all the mould is at virtually the same temperature so that the chocolate quality has also improved. In addition, the fast response of the carbon system means that our control is now much better."
To learn more about infra-red heating systems from Heraeus, go to the website at www.heraeus-infraredsolutions.co.uk.
