Huntapac is a UK grower and supplier of root crops like carrots and parsnips. The company wanted to develop new value-led product options and so installed a state-of-the-art line to produce carrot powder, with a heat exchanger from HRS Heat Exchangers forming a key part of the new process.
The process begins when the carrots are diced and then pureed, after which they are fed into the heat exchanger. This consists of two HRS R Series rotary scraped surface heat exchangers placed in series, which raise the temperature of the carrot puree from 10°C to 60°C. HRS supplied two feed hoppers and an HRS BP Series positive displacement pump to feed the puree into the heat exchanger. The heat for the process is supplied from a dedicated steam boiler and the line has a capacity of 500 kg of puree per hour. The warmed puree is then passed over a drying drum where it is dried to create a flaked product which is milled down into the finished powder.
Production of carrot powder began in H1 2021 and the line now produces about 60 kg of dried finished product an hour.