- Case Study
- A leading food and beverage company is using Aflex Smoothbore hoses for milk spray drying after 30-day tests revealed no leakage, damage, or scratches
- Aflex Smoothbore hoses outperformed competitor hoses, demonstrating exceptional durability and reliability in demanding conditions
- The adoption of Aflex hoses has led to improved operational efficiency and reduced downtime for the major dairy company at its facility in the Philippines
One of the world’s largest food and beverage companies is using Aflex Smoothbore hoses for Lateral High-Pressure Nozzle (LHPN) applications for milk spray drying, after a successful 30-day trial reported no leakage, premature damage or scratches on the inner linings.
Milk powder (also known as powdered milk or dry milk) production involves a process called spray drying, which removes water from milk concentrate by spraying very fine droplets through a nozzle into a hot dry air stream at 180°C to 220°C.
A critical part of a spray drying system is the nozzle hose, which must be sanitary and withstand high pressure and high temperatures. Rupture of the hose during operations is extremely dangerous and can lead to serious injury, product loss and downtime.
Application details
The company, a well-known manufacturer of dairy products, put Aflex Smoothbore (0.375 inch) through a 30-day trial for milk spray drying.
Parameters of the application:
- Media: wet mix (milk 63% total concentration)
- Discharge pressure: 210 bar
- Temperature: 93°C
- Duty rate: 24 hours/day for 14 days continual operation
Details of the Clean-In-Place (CIP) and sterilisation process:
- Lye: for 80 minutes
- Acid: for 25 minutes
- Water sterilisation: 95°C average for one hour
- Operating pressure: 201 bar
Smoothbore hose comprises a straight Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) tube liner. Due to the high-pressure requirement for this application, the outer reinforcement layers are made of aramid fibre and stainless-steel braid. The outer rubber cover is white silicone; both ends are reinforced with 150 mm of additional clear silicone. Hose lengths supplied for this project were 5m and 6 m long.
End connections were 0.5-inch BSP female, 1.4404.
Trial results
The company, a well-known manufacturer of dairy products, needed the (0.375 inch) hose to withstand all the process parameters of high temperature and pressure, higher than usual total concentration and continuous operations of up to 14 days.
After 30 days of installation, the 6 m Smoothbore hose was removed for physical investigation of the inner lining and no significant damage or negative findings were reported.
The Smoothbore hose passed the acceptance criteria and has replaced competitor hoses for milk spray drying across all the company’s sites in the Philippines, with the possibility of use at other production sites around the world. The company purchased two hoses (5 m and 6 m long).
Ian Harper, Asia Pacific Sales Manager at Aflex, said: “Important deciding factors for the customer to change to Aflex Smoothbore hose included excellent customer collaboration and meeting any urgent local demands. Watson-Marlow was on hand to visit the plant with 24 hours’ notice.
“Aflex will keep stock of the special hose for urgent demand and Watson-Marlow Philippines has also agreed to keep stock of fully assembled hoses for immediate delivery, in case of any urgent maintenance demand. Even though the customer held a small amount of stock, they felt it was highly beneficial for a back-up stock locally, as their current supplier was outside of the Philippines with a long lead time.”
Features and benefits of Aflex Smoothbore:
- PTFE-lined high pressure hose
- Temperature resistant
- Chemical resistant
- Self-cleaning