has been involved in manufacturing small, medium, and large-sized tunnel and batch pasteurizers for the beer and beverage industry since 1977… we have been delivering solutions for beverage product shelf stability and consumption safety. As leading innovators in post-fill pasteurization, our skilled team offers the best in customized high-quality tunnel pasteurization equipment. Our focus is on so
lving microbiological packaging needs for a wide variety of customers. PRO pioneered the spray batch pasteurizer and the compact tunnel pasteurizer. We listen to our customers, and you told us you need equipment that fits your footprint and your budget! You can start with our Single and Three Temperature Batch pasteurizers and move on to our expandable series of modular "Slimline" pasteurizers that allow for growth in the pasteurizer as production requirements increase. Additionally, we offer the Mini Tunnel and the High Production Line of tunnel pasteurizers. Insights for the CEO: Edward A. Michalski
Topic: A tunnel is a tunnel is a tunnel… they are all the same! Or are they? For now, I am only going to address pasteurizer tunnels. For some background in 1977. I started designing, upgrading and rebuilding tunnel systems from heating, to spraying. Later it was upgrading transfer systems. Early projects were for Pabst brewing, Schlitz, Miller, Anheuser Busch, Leinenkugel, Yuengling and many more. As time went by it became apparent that there were some blue smoke and mirrors baffling the clients. So, our lab continued with developing equipment that was much less maintenance intense. The requirement is for an operator to be able to do some of the simple troubleshooting when required. Cleaning and service procedures needed to be straightforward and as accessible as possible. Reduce or eliminate confined space requirements to comply with OSHA standards. Design goals, reduced footprint, reduced energy consumption, reduced water use, and clear open spaces for cleaning. Spray nozzle design allows for fewer nozzles with high impact distribution. The spray nozzles configuration allows for a smaller footprint. Who buys pasteurizers?
1. The person who knows what he needs and what to order. Experienced producer with general knowledge of microbiology (Brewmaster)
b. Has the scope of needed pasteurization levels or time at temp guidelines.
2. The person who knows he needs one but doesn’t know what to order. A new contract packager
b. Needs to investigate the spectrum of potential products and their requirements.
3. The person who didn’t know he needed one. Client demands one. This is a challenge as many of the potential clients have guidelines that are imbedded in the product receipt but are historical but are overstated. (Excessive energy consumed beyond what is really needed) these are very difficult to get adjusted as it is too hard to get to a person who can actually make a change. Why do they need a pasteurizer?
• Food safety act may require it for the type of beverage. (Fresh cider) kill Crypto sporidium
• Shelf-life stabilization. (Kill live yeast to stop any fermentation)
Other factors when considering tunnel Pasteurization.
• What is the product to pasteurize?
• Will this be the only product produced?
• Is it tomato base? Does it have natural sugar? Yeast? Fruit extract? Fruit puree?
• Is it being produced in the same area or vessel as other beverages that have these in the blend?
• Is the production a contract packager?
• Is the business growing and needs to be flexible? Pasteurization impact on products to be considered:
• P.U.s = Pasteurization Units one method of measuring as apposed to just time and temp settings.
• What is the minimum PU required and what is the maximum?
• Impact on clarity? Is a requirement that the beverage to be clear or hazy?
• Taste test to find the optimum flavor. Short time at higher temp or longer time at lower temp. both methods will reach the desired P.U. levels.
• Color, what parameters will impact the color of the product? Same as taste test what levels are required? Fast high or slow low.
• Aroma, all these tests are required by a panel of tasters. Thai is your brand and product. The goal is consistency and shelf life. ABOUT PRO ENGINEERING / MANUFACTURING INC. PRO Engineering and Manufacturing has developed a range of small, medium, and large-sized tunnel & batch pasteurizers to fit the needs of BrewMasters & Beverage Maker’s needs. When our customers asked for more compact as well as full size tunnel pasteurizers, PRO developed models to fit our customers’ needs. Then our customers needed a batch pasteurizer. We now provide batch pasteurizer PRO Engineering and Manufacturing is a business that continually innovates to meet customer needs. Since 1977, we have been delivering solutions for beverage product shelf stability and consumption safety. Edward A. Michalski Bio
Ed Michalski started his career in the beverage industry by designing stainless steel, higher flow, spray headers for Pabst Brewing. Along with the header design he also developed a process to produce the new headers. Ed, along with his brother David, formed PRO Engineering/Manufacturing, Inc. Based on what they learned by re-designing and refurbishing other manufacturers’ pasteurizers, Ed and PRO started to offer the pasteurizer marketplace superior new pasteurizers. PRO Engineering/Manufacturing has been designing and manufacturing great pasteurizers for over four decades. For more information on tunnel and batch pasteurization contact PRO Engineering/Manufacturing, Inc. at [email protected] or call (414) 362-1500 and ask for Ed Michalski, CEO. PRO Engineering / Manufacturing, Inc
11175 W Heather Ave Milwaukee, WI 53224
414-362-1500
Website: https://prowm.com
Email: [email protected]
Additional Information from Jozef Michalski:
Topic: In-depth Dive into Tunnel Pasteurizers by the World’s Leading Manufacturer
So Many Questions and Just One Answer… PRO Engineering / Manufacturing Inc. Reference:
• Every vertical pipe is a zone. If a tunnel pasteurizer has vertical pipes, so it has 12 zones.
• Each zone = 1 temperature
• The more zones the more flexibility the machine is.
• Series = belt width
• Zones = machine length
• Every pasteurizer is a series (belt width), and every pasteurizer has at least 3 zones. Each zone is 5 feet long. Consider This to Start With:
A cider might need to go up to 180 degrees, but a beer only needs to get up to 160 degrees. Kombucha might need to get up to 220 degrees. Hard seltzer might need 170 degrees. A 12 oz bottle of beer might need to be at temperature for 2 minutes, but a 750 ml bottle might need to be at temperature for 8 minutes. A 12 oz can might need 3 minutes, but a 20 oz can might only need 4 minutes. If the bottle enters the pasteurizer at 70 degrees, and it has to get up to 180 degrees, this is where the multiple zones come into play. So many considerations and options, read on for details…
Example Scenario / 3 Zone:
If the machine has 3 zones, the first zone is 130 degrees, the second zone is 200 degrees, and the final zone is 120 degrees. The belt will have to move very slowly for the product to get up to temperature, stay at the desired temperature long enough for pasteurization, and then cool down to as close to room temperature as possible before leaving. In this example a 3-zone machine (which would be 15 feet long) would not be a good fit for the customer if they were running a lot of different products. Example Scenario / 6 Zone:
If the customer had a 6-zone machine it would be better in the above example. The first zone could be 120 deg, second zone 140 deg, third zone 180 deg, fourth zone 180 deg (because this is the desired temperature), fifth zone 140, and the sixth zone 100 degrees. In this example the belt could run faster moving more product through it. It also allows for different recipes to change the zone temperature, and the product leaving is closer to room temperature. Example Scenario / 9 Zone:
• 9 zones are great for a wide range of product. If in doubt, buy a 9-zone unit. If we went up to 9 zones the machine would be about 45 feet long. Now we could go 110, 140, 170, 180, 180, 170, 150, 130, and 90. This machine would get the product to almost room temperature. If 9 is good, 12 provides even more flexibility. The problem with 12 zones is the machine is now 60ish feet long (not counting the end frames). It costs more than a 9-zone unit (because it is bigger). We have found the sweet spot for flexibility is the 9-zone unit. It can run fast if the product only needs to go up to 180 degrees. It has the zones to gradually raise the temperature to whatever is needed. The only downside is that it does not have as many zones to cool the product to room temperature if the desired PUs is really high. If a bottle or can is sprayed with too high (or low) or a temperature it can cause the glass to break or the can seal to crack open. By gradually raising and lowering the temperature this is avoided. The more zones the less the risk of that happening. Example Scenario / 5 Series:
The 5 Series that is 45 feet long (45/5=9 so 9 zones) just seems to be in the sweet spot for just about everyone. It is less expensive and smaller than the 60-foot-long units. It has enough zones to be very flexible. Because it has so many zones the belt can keep running at a relatively fast rate, and the design is solid (we worked out all the kinks a long time ago). Why is Room Temperature Important? Why is room temperature important goal? At room temperature the container does not have a condensation problem. This means a label can be applied to a bottle pretty quickly. It also means the product can be put in a cardboard box, and the cardboard will not get wet. So, what’s my point…Up to this point:
What is my point? My point is the more product and containers a customer is running through the machine the more variables they have to consider. By increasing the number of zones, they have, they also increase the number of levers they can adjust to meet demand. How Important Is Speed During the Process? Another variable a customer can adjust and should consider is belt speed. With 3 zones, they need to slow down the belt so the product can be at the desired temperature for the required length. With more zones there is more space to heat the product up, so the belt does not need to slow down as much. The pasteurizer is part of the production line. If the product through rate for the pasteurizer is equal to the fill rate of the bottle or can filler, everyone is happy. If the filler can fill 100 cans a minute, and the pasteurizer can process 100 cans a minute, this is great. If we have to slow the belt down for the desired pasteurization, the filler is still filling 100 cans a minute, but now only 80 cans can go through the pasteurizer a minute. So, every minute there is another 20 cans that need to be stored somewhere. Important Storage Considerations:
Some of this storage problem can be addressed with the length from the filler to the pasteurizer. The conveyors are able to store some of this slack. If the disparity becomes too much than there are storage problems, or the filler can only be run at half the time. If the filler can only be run half the time product needs to be stored in the brew tanks longer. If product needs to be stored in the brew tanks longer it takes longer to run brew batches… because there is no place to store them. If it takes longer to run brew batches the customer is not able to turn over product as fast as the market demands it, and they could lose market share. It is also easier to buy and install a new filler than it is a new pasteurizer. Fillers are much smaller in overall size. It is easier to buy and install a new flatscreen TV than it is a new sofa. The TV might be more expensive, but it will take two people carrying it up a flight of stairs, whereas you can only ask so many friends to help move a sofa into your living room before they stop being your friend. Pasteurizers always seem to be placed in the very back of the brewery. There are always a conveyor running to and from the pasteurizer. To swap out a pasteurizer requires moving a lot of conveyors and shutting down production. In the TV analogy, you only need to make sure you have enough wall space to install the new TV, but you need to rearrange your entire living room to get out the old sofa and bring in the new one. If you have to go up a flight of stairs and turn a corner… same theory with the pasteurizer. Unless the customer is growing and growing (not a bad problem) replacing pasteurizers every few years is a pain. What Is the Function of Tunnel Warmers? Warmers just heat product to a desired temperature; they do not heat it up to a high temperature and then cool them down. A small 3 zone machine might make the perfect warmer, but if the customer wants to pasteurize anything they will need a larger unit (especially if they want to co-pack). And What About the Current Marketing Conditions:
As interest rates rise, anyone who is able to afford a tunnel now, at 5% interest rates should get one. In a years’ time when interest rates are at 7 or 9% the cost of financing a larger machine might price out some potential buyers. This means those that have the large machines now, will be able to co-pack for those who were not able to upgrade when we had low interest rates. How Does Batch Pasteurizers Compare?
• The batch pasteurizer only has 1 zone.
• The triple temp batch pasteurizer has 3 sumps (where the water is stored and heated) so it can spray the product with 3 temperatures and mirror what happens in a small pasteurizer. PRO Engineering / Manufacturing, Inc
11175 W Heather Ave Milwaukee, WI 53224
414-362-1500
Website: https://prowm.com
Email: [email protected]
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