Better Cooling Efficiency and Food Quality with the Nexus Pilot Plant from SPX

One of the major challenges faced by today's manufacturers is the ever-increasing demand for new and better products. To survive and prosper in this fast moving industry, R&D activities must be efficient and cost-effective. SPX Gerstenberg Schröder brand has developed pilot plants to test crystallised fat products like margarine, shortening and spreads as well as emulsified food products like mayonnaise, sauces and dressings. One of SPX’s key offerings for testing and development purposes is the Nexus pilot plant. Utilising CO2 as cooling medium Nexus is a highly efficient, low-energy consuming scraped surface heat exchanger designed for various food products.

The Nexus pilot plant has been proven to bring much greater efficiency and improved food quality in the production of viscous products such as margarine. Uniquely, it uses the natural refrigerant CO2 - which has less environmental impact and provides significant energy saving over traditional cooling media like i.e. Freon or Ammonia. The plant provides everything needed for optimal small-scale production with product pressures up to 120 bar and has all the flexibility one would expect from a pilot system – enabling fast set-up and alterations to meet process and applications as needed.

The unique design of the plant ensures the efficient cooling created by the use of CO2. This enables to influence the crystallization of the product even better compared to systems operated with Freon or Ammonia i.e. much smaller crystals in a greater quantity can be generated - properties that greatly enhance the quality of certain fats and margarines. Compared to other refrigerants CO2 operated systems require much less energy to produce the same amount of product, making the process significantly more efficient. Further energy savings are realised as the CO2 compressor within the Nexus pilot plant has a heat recovery system, which makes available heat from the process for other purposes. Overall Nexus pilot plants, and indeed Nexus production scale units, reduce the power consumption per tonne of produced product by up to 40% compared to the use of other refrigerants.

CO2 not only provides a more efficient, higher capacity cooling process, it is a less expensive commodity and does not have the environmental and safety issues associated with the use of the traditional NH3 (ammonia) or Freon refrigerants. It does not have regulated usage nor is it poisonous or flammable, making safety procedures straightforward.

The Nexus pilot solution is in line with the full production Nexus solution, ensuring the same conditions and repeatable results for the move to large-scale production facilities. Applications in challenging areas such as pastry margarine have proven successful scale-up from pilot to production with improved competitive advantage of the final product quality been seen through to the bakeries.

The Nexus pilot plant is a modular unit based on a table design. It has flexible connection pipes to easily connect various units for maximum versatility. It has a hygienic, streamlined design enabling easy cleaning and maintenance. It is ideal for manufacturers looking for a flexible, effective and highly efficient crystallisation and cooling small-scale process for various kinds of food products.

About SPX Flow Technology

The SPX Flow Technology segment designs, manufactures and installs highly engineered solutions used to process, blend, meter and transport fluids, in addition to solutions for air and gas filtration and dehydration. The segment supports global food and beverage, dairy, pharmaceutical, oil and gas, energy, and industrial markets. SPX (NYSE: SPW) is a global Fortune 500 multi-industry manufacturing leader with over $5 billion in annual revenue, operations in more than 35 countries and over 18,000 employees. For more information, please visit www.spx.com.

About SPX

Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, SPX Corporation (NYSE: SPW) is a global Fortune 500 multi-industry manufacturing leader with over $5 billion in annual revenue, operations in more than 35 countries and over 18,000 employees. The company’s highly-specialized, engineered products and technologies are concentrated in three areas: Flow Technology, infrastructure, and vehicle service solutions. Many of SPX’s innovative solutions are playing a role in helping to meet rising global demand for electricity, processed foods and beverages and vehicle services, particularly in emerging markets. The company’s products include food processing systems for the food and beverage industry, power transformers for utility companies, cooling systems for power plants; and diagnostic tools and equipment for the automotive industry. This description of SPX does not contemplate the pending sale of the Service Solutions business. For more information, please visit www.spx.com.