Not so long ago, stainless steel electric motors and gearboxes were a pipe dream for many production managers. The dream, now a reality, comes with plenty of advantages for food processors, writes Rod Julian.
There has been an increasing trend to adopt stainless steel drive trains within the food and beverage industry. Not so long ago, meaning as little as ten years ago, stainless steel electric motors and stainless steel gearboxes were a hopeful daydream for many production managers.
They simply weren’t available, though many wishes they were.
Today, that is different. On the market today — within Australia - there are stainless steel electric motors available, ex stock, up to 7.5kW.
There are available, off the shelf, stainless steel gearboxes, with fully cast stainless steel housings.
And there is available, from several suppliers, inverters supplied in stainless steel housings.
What does this mean?
It means a factory in the food and beverage industry can install a drive train that is completely stainless steel. With this comes many advantages:
Greater productivity
Motors and gearboxes of a stainless steel construction can withstand the wear and tear of being washed down every day with high pressure cleaners. I know of a chicken processing factory where the standard motor on a machine was replaced, as a matter of routine maintenance, every three months. A stainless steel motor was trialled. As a result of the trial, a stainless steel motor was fitted to every similar machine in the factory. The results were obvious: less downtime, less time spent maintaining a machine; less time spent ordering parts, more reliable productivity.
Hygiene
We should be proud of our food industry, the standards are extremely high, and something other countries look up to. In situations where electric motors and gearboxes are mounted above exposed food product, there is the serious risk of contamination.
Electric motor housings and gearbox housings are normally made of either aluminium or cast iron. It is only a matter of time before either paint flakes or particles of metal (or metal by-product) fall onto the exposed food.
Up until recent times the only option was to be very diligent and swap over the motors and gearboxes regularly and keep them freshly painted. Of course, that is no longer necessary.
A stainless steel motor and gearbox has no paint finish, so there is no chance of paint flake contamination. Obviously, there is no chance of rust flakes (or aluminium powder) falling onto the product.
HACCP certification
There are some stainless steel electric motors and stainless steel gearboxes on the market that have full HACCP certification. The advantages are obvious.
Electric motor shrouds
With electric motors in particular, the previous norm was to use a standard (aluminium or cast iron) motor, and protect it with a stainless steel wrap- around shroud.
This is fine, except for some serious disadvantages:
- the motor cannot be easily seen. Aluminium motors are prone to chemical attack from the chemicals used in pressure cleaners, and sometimes the damage cannot be seen until it is too late — and the motor goes down. This can result in serious lost production.
- when the shroud is blasted by a pressure cleaner, particles of food and rubbish is often blasted into the space between the shroud and the motor. This accumulates, and over time attracts insects and vermin. When this happens and the shroud is opened, it is not a pretty sight, especially when an inspector is present.
The stainless steel revolution
Since around 2005 there has been a quiet revolution going on — a demand for more hygiene, reliability, and even aesthetics. Years ago stainless steel sheet was adopted for use in food processing machines.
Since then there has been a steady pressure to use stainless steel in those areas of food production that had not changed over.
Everyone involved in the food industry is aware of the advantages of stainless steel. It is not unusual now to visit a food or beverage processing plant and see a stainless steel pump, driven by a stainless steel motor, on a stainless steel bedplate, the pump connected by stainless steel piping.
Industries
From abattoirs to cheese manufacturing, from salad manufacturing to chicken processing, from orange juice plants to bacon factories, stainless steel electric motors, gearboxes, and inverters are being used in ever increasing numbers.
Lafert Electric Motors NSW
Rod Julian 0417 155 830
lafertnsw@yahoo.com.au
www.scorpionstainless.com.au