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When preparing small quantities of new products homogenisation is often a vital operation required at some stage of the process. Until now suitable small scale equipment has not been available and product development technicians have been unable to reproduce the full scale process in the laboratory. The Armfield Homogeniser fulfills the need for a laboratory size unit to permit small batches to be processed and evaluated before proceeding to full scale production design and operation. It permits reproducible tests to be carried out using only a few litres of food material.

This type of filter is widely used in the food, pharmaceutical, brewing and distilling industries. The laboratory size unit is robust and versatile and has been designed to allow clear demonstration of the mode of operation as well as a high degree of experimentation for scale-up to industrial processes.

The Armfield Disc Bowl Centrifuge is designed to provide practical training in the technique of separating a heavy phase liquid from a lighter phase liquid with particular emphasis on the separation of cream from milk. Throughputs of up to 125 litres/hour are possible.

An effective means of demonstrating the cheese making process in a simple, practi-cal and student friendly configuration. The FT20Mkll operation is compared with industrial scale manufacturing, giving the student ‘hands-on’ experience of process monitoring and control. The effects of heat on micro-organisms and variations in recipes on the taste and texture of the finished product may be evaluated.
An informative wallchart is supplied free with each FT20Mkll Cheese Vat purchased. It offers the student diagrams of the cheese making process and details the steps involved in cheese manufacturing.

The Laboratory Fluid Bed Drier has a number of significant advantages when compared with conventional drying techniques.

Armfield has developed a miniature scale direct steam injection UHT unit capable of treating small batches of product with full operator control of all process variables such as temperature, back pressure and condensed vapour uptake. The unit is mounted on a stainless steel cabinet for ease of cleaning. All process variables are displayed on the membrane control panel mounted on the cabinet. The unit is self contained, complete with product feed pump, pressurised hot water circulator, tubular heat exchanger for heating and cooling, flash off vessel, steam injection point, vapour condenser, vacuum set and product extraction pump. Requires connection to a suitable steam supply and to mains water.

The FT88 is very similar to the FT87, with the added capability of being used for interesterification. It is designed to perform trans or intra esterification of different oils and fats using sodium methoxide catalyst.

The Armfield FT94X HTST/UHT Mini Pilot system extends the range of continuous operation scaled-down units offered by Armfield to 200 L/h (30-100 L/h standard format).
The unit combines full flexibility – plate and tubular heat exchanger options - with comprehensive instrumentation demanded of research and development equipment.
The FT94 is designed for operation as both a stand-alone unit and also for seamless integration into a full processing system with the capability of aseptic packaging of processed product.

The ability to establish precise and reproducible parameters when carbonating in the laboratory can dramatically improve the speed with which new products can be developed. The Armfield FT102X miniature-scale carbonator enables precise and flexible carbonation.

Overview:
The Armfield FT174X is a modular HTST/UHT processing system designed to treat products at flow rates of 12-40 lph or up to 60 lph for water (or similar low viscosity products).
Standard Modules for direct heating (steam injection) or indirect heating (using tubular and/or plate heat exchangers), aseptic processing, upstream or downstream homogenisation and additional chilling are available.

These, along with many other options, allow multiple modules to be included in the same system, giving high process adaptability by reconfiguration of flexible product hoses, using quick release connections. The sterilisation options allow it to be linked to an Armfield sterile filling bench to produce aseptic product, even when using long holding tubes and/or downstream homogenisation.

As with all Armfield systems, it comes with hygienic fittings throughout as standard, it is easy to clean and very flexible in use.
The Touch screen control panel makes it extremely user friendly to configure and monitor processing parameters. The operator is prompted at every stage whenever intervention is required.

FT2 Laboratory Hammer Mill - Provisional
	The mill consists of a simple but sturdy overhung beater cross design with ease of accessibility and cleaning. The standard machine is of cast iron. The mill occupies a minimum of bench space. A 1.5kW motor drives a beater cross at 8000rpm above a curved replaceable screen. In its new form the grinding chamber is mounted above the motor and the shaft is driven by means of a short toothed belt.

FT5 Ribbon and Cone Blender - Provisional
	The equipment comprises a 4 litre stainless steel batch mixing vessel and double cone volumes of 2 litres, equipped with an electrically driven interrupted helical ribbon.

FT9 Homogeniser - issue 5
	When preparing small quantities of new products homogenisation is often a vital operation required at some stage of the process. Until now suitable small scale equipment has not been available and product development technicians have been unable to reproduce the full scale process in the laboratory. The Armfield Homogeniser fulfills the need for a laboratory size unit to permit small batches to be processed and evaluated before proceeding to full scale production design and operation. It permits reproducible tests to be carried out using only a few litres of food material.

FT14 Plate and Frame Filter Press - Issue 2
	This type of filter is widely used in the food, pharmaceutical, brewing and distilling industries. The laboratory size unit is robust and versatile and has been designed to allow clear demonstration of the mode of operation as well as a high degree of experimentation for scale-up to industrial processes.

FT15 Disc Bowl Centrifuge - Issue 5
	The Armfield Disc Bowl Centrifuge is designed to provide practical training in the technique of separating a heavy phase liquid from a lighter phase liquid with particular emphasis on the separation of cream from milk. Throughputs of up to 125 litres/hour are possible.

FT 18 Reverse Osmosis/Ultrafiltration Unit - issue 6
	The Armfield RO/UF unit is the smallest known industrial membrane system of its type in the world. It is designed specifically for laboratory scale testing of both reverse osmosis and ultrafiltration techniques.

FT19 Autoclave - Provisional
	The Armfield Autoclave is a batch sterilising unit designed primarily for in-bottle production of sterilised milk.

FT20 Cheese Vat - issue 2
	The Armfield Cheese Vat makes an ideal research facility. When making Cheddar type cheese, approximately 1kg of cheese is produced from a 10 litre batch of milk.

FT20 MKII Cheese Vat - Issue 3
	An effective means of demonstrating the cheese making process in a simple, practi-cal and student friendly configuration. The FT20Mkll operation is compared with industrial scale manufacturing, giving the student ‘hands-on’ experience of process monitoring and control. The effects of heat on micro-organisms and variations in recipes on the taste and texture of the finished product may be evaluated. An informative wallchart is supplied free with each FT20Mkll Cheese Vat purchased. It offers the student diagrams of the cheese making process and details the steps involved in cheese manufacturing.

FT21/21A Butter Churn and Butter Making Accessories - Provisional
	The Armfield Butter Churn is designed to provide practical training in the preparation of butter by the traditional method.

FT22 Rising Film Evaporator - issue 5
	The costs incurred by the length of time taken, the large quantities of raw materials required and the interruption of the production process mean it is disadvantageous to test new products using full-scale production equipment. The Armfield evaporator processes samples as small as 2.0 litres under conditions identical to those in production, sufficient to reveal the effect of heating on any ingredients newly introduced to the recipe. As well as investigation of the effect on organoleptic and physico-chemical properties, the equipment can be used to prepare product for taste trials on a daily basis to ensure the quality of incoming raw material is consistent.

FT25 Modular Scraped Surface Heat Exchanger Systems - issue 5
	Armfield miniature-scale technology is well established as offering developers the opportunity to run small trials which provide enough information to allow for scale-up to larger plant with confidence. The formulations go through similar physio-chemical changes as they would in production plant and real time data logging allows results to be recorded and repeated. The FT25 range of miniature-scale scraped surface heat exchangers has built in control and flexibility with a graphic representation on the membrane technology control panel. The operator can choose the parameters wanted for any particular formulation. The FT25 has a number of configurations according to the use required.

FT27 CentriPeel Centrifuge - issue 1
	The all stainless CentriPeel centrifuge is a basket type separator designed to save time in R&D operations. It has a capacity of 11 litres per batch and can be operated at up to 400 G. It thereby reduces the several hours typically required for gravity setting a liquid to just a few minutes and also gives much improved separation.

FT28 Oil Extraction Screw Press - Provisional
	The unit has been developed to meet an increasing demand for a relatively unsophisticated small capacity press, suitable for laboratory work.

FT29 Batch Solvent Extraction and Desolventising Unit - issue 2
	The Armfield Solvent Extraction Unit is a floor standing, batch process capable of carrying out a variety of solid/liquid extractions. It is particularly suitable for 'leaching' edible oils from oil-bearing seeds and desolventising both the extracted solids and the miscella.

FT30 MKIII Spray Drier - Provisional
	This bench mounted unit is designed for the rapid assessment of processes involving aqueous emulsions, solutions, suspensions and colloids.

FT31 Fluidised Bed Drier - Provisional
	The Laboratory Fluid Bed Drier has a number of significant advantages when compared with conventional drying techniques.

FT32 Drum Drier - Provisional
	The Armfield Drum Drier consists of a nip fed twin cylinder drying machine, cast from Meehanite GA, cast-iron with combined endplates and trunnions. The rolls are accurately ground on the circumference, bored internally to ensure even heat transference, and suitable foe working with steam at up to 5.5 bar. The rolls are carried in grease lubricated bearings which are housed in circular endplates mounted on the base plate of the machine.

FT33 Vacuum Freeze Drier - Issue 3
	The Armfield Freeze Drier is a compactly designed unit with an insulated working chamber 300mm diameter x 385mm deep. It incorporates a built in refrigeration system and temperature controlled heating system. With the working chamber and condenser chamber constructed from stainless steel, it offers excellent corrosion resistance and can be easily sterilised. The products can be frozen in the chamber before drying. The unit is designed for freeze drying biologically heat sensitive materiaIs contained in beakers or other vessels. It can be considered to be a small scale replica of commercial scale pharmaceutical and food production machines.

FT34 MKII Contact Plate Freezer - issue 5
	The FT34 Mkll demonstrates an industrial fast freezing process in a simple, practical and student friendly configuration. It directly illustrates the large improvements in taste and texture which can be achieved by fast freezing processes compared with the slower freezing times of a domestic refrigerator. An informative wallchart is supplied free with each FT34 MKll Contact Plate Freezer. It describes the industrial freezing process and highlights the importance of freezing food quickly.

FT36 Blast and Fluid Bed Freezer - Provisional
	The Armfield Blast and Fluid Bed Freezer combines these two important industrial processes into one scaled-down freezer cabinet.

FT40 Multi-Purpose Processing Vessel - issue 8
	A vital stage in the preparation of a food product is the accurate addition and correct mixing of the various ingredients which make up the recipe. It is usual that heat will be required, subsequent cooling and chilling are often needed for preservation. The Armfield Multi-Purpose Processing Vessel is able to carry out these actions with very small quantities of ingredients. The facilities to mix, emulsify, heat, pasteurise, incubate, cool, chill and cure are all built in to this purpose-designed unit. As well as preparation of food products for further processing, the facilities allow production of finished products in batch sizes from 5- 20 litres.

FT43 Laboratory Pasteuriser - issue
	The Armfield FT43 laboratory pasteuriser is a miniature-scale HTST unit which allows developers to test the effects of heat processing on product quickly and economically. The HTST pasteurisation process can be undertaken using very small quantities of product in a relatively short time so testing is both quick and economical. Temperatures of up to 90°C can be achieved and holding times varied with throughput using the two holding tubes supplied. The unit can operate with as little as one and as much as 30 litres of product per hour.

FT63 Laboratory Process Chiller - issue 3
	The FT63 is a recirculating process chiller, providing a continuous supply of chilled liquid to serve as the cooling fluid when used with an Armfield miniature scale processing unit. It is particularly suitable for use with an Armfield FT74 UHT system.

IFT66 Neutraliser/Washer/Bleacher - issue 1
	The Armfield FT66 Neutraliser/Washer/Bleacher is a floor standing batch processing vessel capable of performing the pre-refining stages on small quantities of crude edible oils and facilitates practical research and development.

FT67 Hydrogenation Unit - issue 3
	The Armfield Hydrogenation unit is a floor standing batch process-ing vessel which is used to adjust the degree of saturation of 25 litre batches of edible oils.

FT68 Deodorising Unit - issue 3
	The Armfield Deodorising Unit is a floor-standing batch processing vessel suitable for steam stripping of fatty acids from edible oils.

FT74X UHT/HTST System - issue 9
	A miniature scale UHT processing system optimised for product development use. The system is highly flexible and has a wide range of options.

FT74DI Steam Injection UHT System - issue 3
	Armfield has developed a miniature scale direct steam injection UHT unit capable of treating small batches of product with full operator control of all process variables such as temperature, back pressure and condensed vapour uptake. The unit is mounted on a stainless steel cabinet for ease of cleaning. All process variables are displayed on the membrane control panel mounted on the cabinet. The unit is self contained, complete with product feed pump, pressurised hot water circulator, tubular heat exchanger for heating and cooling, flash off vessel, steam injection point, vapour condenser, vacuum set and product extraction pump. Requires connection to a suitable steam supply and to mains water.

FT75 Laboratory Pastueriser - Issue 3
	The Armfield Laboratory Pasteuriser is an example of the modern high temperature, short time (HTST) pasteurisers used in commercial food production. It utilises a three stage plate heat exchanger and provides an excellent example of a ‘production line’ approach to food manufacturing, complete with associated ‘systems and control’ aspects.

FT80/FT81 Tall Form Spray Dryer and Chiller - issue 8
	The Armfield FT80 Tall Form Spray Dryer and FT81 Spray Chiller have been purpose designed to allow laboratory quantities of products to be processed. Despite the small scale of the equipment, the powders produced will be comparable to large scale production dryer capability. Both systems offer unparalleled flexibility with separate, individually controlled inlet and outlet fans, together with variable nozzle positions and selection of co- or counter-current flow configurations. This flexibility is enhanced by an unsurpassed range of options, purpose designed for laboratory and research use. With the appropriate accessories it is possible to change from spray drying to spray chilling configurations in a matter of minutes, thus adding further unique experimental capability.

FT83 Sterile Filling System - issue 3
	The Armfield FT83 is the most cost effective solution for R&D departments to produce sterile packaged samples with an excellent shelf life. As well as a working chamber with a controlled, clean environment, the unit includes the facilities to allow all the product paths to be sterilised and for the filling to be controlled in a simple manner.

FT87 Loop Hydrogenation Pilot Plant - issue 1
	The FT87 Hydrogenation system implements the pumped loop system of agitation widely used in industrial scale plants. In this way the system accurately reproduces the performance of these industrial plants.

FT88 Dual Purpose Hydrogenation and Interesterification Plant - issue 1
	The FT88 is very similar to the FT87, with the added capability of being used for interesterification. It is designed to perform trans or intra esterification of different oils and fats using sodium methoxide catalyst.