Open Hopper Pump Used to Remove Reject Potatoes

A potato processor has installed a Seepex progressive cavity pump to remove whole reject potatoes from the production area. The processing of potatoes in the factory is a highly automated process; however, a visual inspection of peeled potatoes is important for high product quality. Reject potatoes had previously been removed in tote bins, but this was not ideal in an otherwise automated environment. Alternative methods of removal using an existing grinder and pump had proved inefficient, so Seepex was asked to look at the problem.

Having dealt with several similar applications of this type, the company recommended a BTM open hopper pump. The patented design of the Seepex BTM pump incorporates an auger feed that takes whole vegetables and pushes them through a set of rotating knives attached to the end of the auger. These knives release the water contained within the cells and the resulting smashed potato is then pumped by the rotor and stator elements through enclosed pipework to a location outside the factory.

The pump removes the whole potatoes hygienically in an enclosed system to a reception point in the yard. Tote-bin traffic has been removed from inside the factory and fork-lift truck traffic reduced in the external areas. Owing to the mashed nature of the pumped product, high-value starch can be recovered before it is recycled as animal feed. The volume of the resulting final product is also reduced by up to 50 per cent, thus reducing transport costs. The use of pumping technology in this way enables reject vegetables (and fruits) and waste from peeling to be removed efficiently and hygienically from the factory.