FOOD FLUID 46: An extra portion of safety

Each year RAMSEIER Aachtal AG (CH) processes up to 60,000 tonnes of cider fruit in just under three months. Key to successfully processing the harvest are two new, extra-powerful hydraulic filter presses. The presses are filled with H1-registered, food-safe FOOD FLUID 46 hydraulic oil – testimony to the stringent quality and safety commitments at Switzerland’s biggest juice bottler. 

MOTOREX’s specialization in lubrication applications brings us into regular contact with manufacturers of equipment for the food, pharmaceutical, and packaging industries. 

First fill at the factory

At the customer’s request, the two new juice presses were to use an H1-registered hydraulic fluid. This designation is used by the FDA and NSF to indicate lubricants which could come into unintentional, technologically unpreventable contact with foods. Since the hydraulic system in the juice presses is in principle a closed system, using an H1 fluid is a precautionary safety measure. FOOD FLUID 46 is a high-performance H1 hydraulic fluid in the MOTOREX product range. It was put through its paces in precise accordance with the press manufacturer’s specifications. Each test, including the Brugger test (load-carrying capacity), the VKA four-ball test (pressure load), and flash point, pour point, and noflow point measurements among others provided more evidence that the full-synthetic hydraulic oil is perfectly suited to the task. An effective long-term test under realistic conditions will take place during processing of this year’s harvest. 
 

7,500 L press chamber capacity

The BUCHER HPX 7507 can handle a wide range of solid-liquid substance separation tasks. At RAMSEIER Aachtal AG, two of these powerful modern machines process between 18 and 24 tonnes of apples and pears per hour into freshly pressed juice. A piston-and-cylinder system presses the fruit through a series of drainage elements (filters) in several cycles. Each machine’s press chamber capacity is an imposing 7,500 litres. Once the pressing process is done, the pulp residue is automatically emptied. A self-optimising press control system determines the product’s pressability at each stage of the process and continually adjusts the process parameters for maximum throughput and yield. 

RAMSEIER AACHTAL AG

Various factors can cause harvest sizes to fluctuate widely from year to year. RAMSEIER Aachtal AG’s maximum daily processing capacity is roughly 1,000 t of cider fruit, yielding about five million litres of freshly pressed juice per week. At the height of the harvest, from mid-September to late October or so, production takes place in shifts around the clock. The company processes some 40% of all cider fruit in Switzerland. Sophisticated processes and high reliability of both infrastructure and personnel are needed each year to ensure successful processing of the harvest.  

MOTOREX FOOD FLUID 46 plays an important role in the process that creates the unmistakable RAMSEIER fruit juices. 

Source: MOTOREX MAGAZINE 124 I SEPTEMBER 2022 I WWW.MOTOREX.COM