TOMRA Sorting Solutions has installed a 56-square-meter cold room at its test and demonstration center in Leuven, Belgium, to observe and improve the performance of equipment operating in low-temperature environments typical of individually quick frozen (IQF) food production plants.
The facility can accommodate two sorting machines at the same time, enabling parallel testing and comparisons. It features an indirect cooling system, fully controlled automatic access doors and LED lighting.
“It’s a fact that sorting performance and results are affected greatly by the external environment. Defrosting, sticking of the product and changing defect conditions are known issues when testing IQF products. Normal operating temperature in IQF production facilities is around five degrees, but we can set our cold room as low as minus two degrees,” said Wim Van Doren, sales application manager at TOMRA Sorting Solutions.
He added: “Our investment in this cold room allows customers to witness the sorting line in realistic circumstances, and they can see first-hand the capabilities of our machines operating in these severe conditions.”
Wim Van Doren and his demo team will mange TOMRA’s new cold room, which will also be used by the R&D department.
In June of 2014 TOMRA Sorting Solutions installed the first cold room at its state-of-the-art facility in Sacramento, California. From the USA and Europe to Japan and China, the company runs 15 test and demonstration centers worldwide to provide technical expertise and services for the development of sensor-based sorting stations for food producers and other those in other commercial sectors.
About TOMRA
TOMRA Sorting is owned by Asker, Norway-headquartered TOMRA Systems ASA, which is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. Founded in 1972, it employs more than 2,500 people and has annual turnover of approximately €530 million.
The company’s TOMRA Sorting Food unit, formerly BEST and ODENBERG, designs and manufactures grading, peeling and process analytics systems as well sensor-based sorting machines for the food industry. Over 7,500 systems have been installed at the facilities of growers, packers and processers globally.
For more information about TOMRA Sorting Food visit www.tomra.com/food.
