IN Brief:
- Flo-Mech’s Flo-Flavour On-Demand system is fully commissioned and available for customer trials.
- Continuous recipe-controlled powder and oil feed replaces conventional batch preparation in the new unit.
- A weigh-controlled drum inlet, peristaltic pump and application lance govern slurry delivery.
Flo-Mech has completed commissioning of its Flo-Flavour On-Demand slurry system, a compact seasoning unit intended for snack and coated-product production lines. The equipment is available for trials at customers’ factories, allowing processors to test recipe control and application with their own products before making a production investment. The system combines gravimetric ingredient dosing with continuous preparation and application of a powder-and-oil slurry.
Powder and oil feed into the on-demand mixing vessel continuously at the ratio specified by the selected recipe. Rather than making a complete batch before each run, the unit replenishes the slurry used by the seasoning drum. Powder and oil addition are balanced against slurry leaving the vessel, keeping a working level in the tank and eliminating the need for a separate full-size holding tank in this arrangement.
Operators load dry seasoning into a powder hopper. An automated feed introduces the measured powder alongside oil into the mixing tank, where the ingredients are combined for delivery to the drum. The Flo-Flavour MkIV equipment works with an infeed weigh vibrator that measures the product entering the seasoning drum. Its recipe settings determine the slurry dose relative to that incoming product flow.
A peristaltic pump moves the prepared slurry to an application lance within the rotating drum, where tumbling exposes the snacks to the coating. The dosing system uses the measured incoming product mass to set slurry delivery. During a change in line speed, the application rate can therefore follow the quantity of product entering the drum instead of continuing at a rate based on elapsed time.
A reduction in product throughput would leave a fixed-rate dosing system applying more slurry to each kilogram of snacks unless an operator changed its setting. Flo-Mech combines the infeed weight measurement and recipe specification to govern dosing as production fluctuates. The result depends on the weighing equipment, powder feed, mixing consistency and pump delivering the commanded quantities reliably.
Dry flavouring must disperse through the oil before it reaches the lance, and the resulting suspension must move through the pump and transfer hoses without losing the consistency needed for even coating. The existing Flo-Flavour equipment was developed to combine oil and dry seasonings under controlled conditions. The new unit retains that processing function while feeding and replenishing the mixing vessel continuously.
The continuous arrangement also reduces the number of tanks required. Flo-Mech describes a footprint smaller than a conventional two-tank system and says operators can reach the complete assembly from floor level. Space and access affect installation around existing fryers, conveyors, inspection equipment and packaging machinery, particularly where auxiliary dosing equipment has to fit beside an operating snack line.
Excess slurry increases oil and flavouring consumption; an insufficient dose can leave patches of product with weaker flavour or less consistent appearance. Applying the recipe ratio to measured product flow gives the control system a consistent dosing basis across successive production runs. The system must still maintain powder feeding and mixing accuracy for the intended specification to reach the product.
On lines producing several flavours, residual mixture in a tank, hose or lance may carry into the next recipe unless the circuit is emptied and cleaned. Continuous replenishment can reduce the amount left in preparation compared with larger batch systems, while the actual cleaning sequence depends on the ingredients, access to product-contact surfaces and hygiene requirements of each installation.
Flo-Mech expects the smaller continuous system to reduce seasoning waste, cleaning time, downtime and water use while allowing faster flavour changes. The design also provides an opportunity to test whether operators can maintain the required coating rate without holding more mixed slurry than the current production run needs. Ingredient use and cleaning performance will be assessed under the conditions of individual factory trials.
Recipe trials will need to cover dry seasonings with different particle sizes and mixing characteristics. Powder delivery must remain stable, and the pumped suspension must reach the lance without blocking it or changing the intended application pattern. Coating uniformity can then be checked while product mass flow rises, falls or changes between recipes, alongside the amount of material retained in the circuit after a run.
The commissioned demonstration unit is available to be delivered to customers’ production sites. Flo-Mech is offering trials using the processor’s own ingredients, snack products and seasoning drum, enabling the application settings and cleaning arrangements to be assessed with the intended equipment. Results from those runs can inform the required recipe settings and suitability for a permanent installation.
Flo-Flavour On-Demand is now at the customer-testing stage following commissioning. During those trials, stable powder and oil feed, measured product flow and pump-controlled application will have to operate together as a single seasoning process. The extent to which the system reduces retained mixture or changeover work will depend on the recipes and line conditions demonstrated at each site.
