Armfield – Miniature-Scale Research & Development Technology – FT94LT HTST/UHT Mini Pilot System

The FT94LT comprises a three stage heat exchanger complete with the services, controls and instrumentation required to operate the system. The heat exchanger, control panel and feed pump are mounted on top of a stainless steel table with all scervices and electrical cabinet located below.

The tubular heat exchanger design uses ten concentric 316 stainless steel tubes for product preheating (two tubes), final heating (four tubes) and cooling (four tubes). In all cases the product passes down the inner tube and the heating/cooling medium passes through the annulus in a counter-current direction. As with all Armfield systems, it comes with hygienic fittings throughout as standard; it is easy to clean and very flexible in use.

For the main heating, steam is applied to the service side of the heating section using an electro-pneumatic steam-control valve. The product temperature is measured at the end of the heat exchanger (or holding tube) and this value is used by a PID control algorithm, implemented in the PLC, to control the steam-regulating valve, hence ensuring the user-defined set point is maintained.

In order to provide a gentle preheat action, steam at sub-atmospheric pressure (and hence low temperature) is applied to the service side of the preheat section. In this way, steam temperatures at or significantly below 100°C can be produced and low differentials between steam temperature and product temperature are achieved. Stable preheat temperatures of 60°C or less are feasible. Control of the steam pressure/temperature is achieved by a manual steam-control valve, and automatic PID control is an available option.

Cooling water is applied to the cooling section of the product heat exchanger via a rotameter. For applications requiring chilled exit temperature, the system can be configured to use two initial cooling tubes using city water, and two final cooling tubes using a source of chilled water (Armfield can provide a recirculating water chiller if required)

The system is PLC controlled, with a high-resolution TFT 8″ colour touchscreen panel making it extremely user friendly to configure and monitor processing parameters. The operator is prompted at every stage whenever intervention is required.

All operation functions are controlled from this panel, including configuration, mode of operation (sterilisation, process or clean in place). Different sets of processing parameters can be edited, stored and quickly recalled using the menu capability of the system.

The ancillary items such as the homogeniser and sterile filler are also controlled from this panel. The system can be quickly and easily interfaced to other free-standing Armfield process items such as a mixing vessel, a chiller or a sterile filling system.

Key Features

FT94LT HTST/UHT Mini Pilot System

Key Features

• Indirect heating, tube-in-tube UHT heat exchanger system
• Throughputs from 30 to >100 l/hr (dependent on conditions)
• Process temperatures up to 150°C
• Touchscreen control for ease of use
• Continuous operation
• Capable of aseptic operation
• Fully instrumented
• Preheating by vacuum steam
• Main heating by steam
• Tubular heat exchanger
• Controlled product preheat option
• Automatic product divert with temperature option
• Hygienic connections
• Built-in clean-in-place (CIP)
• Sterilisation in place (SIP) option
• Simple linkage to sterile filling bench
• USB data logging option
• Electronic flow meter option

Benefits

• Cost-effective laboratory system
• Compact design and easy installation
• Low product hold-up (can operate with as little as 15l process batches)
• Suitable for producing large batches of material for extensive product testing
• Rapid startup
• Designed for easy integration into a process line
• Links directly to sterile filling bench