German machining company BWS Technologie intends to expand its reach into Africa’s sugar industry through its Buckau-Wolf continuous centrifugals, batch-type centrifugals, and vacuum pans with honeycomb calandrias. The company also seeks to extend its reach into various industries across Africa through its Supraton inline homogenisers.

BWS Technologie has partnered with AWANDA, a South African company with offices in Durban, to develop the market and service customers in the Sub-Sahara African region.

The fully-automatic Buckau-Wolf centrifugals are used for liquid and solid separation of crystal suspensions in the food industry. It is most often used in the production of white and raw sugar, as well as after-product sugar from processing cane and beet. Further uses include the processing of dextrose, fructose, isomalt and candy sugar.

The Buckau-Wolf centrifugals are fitted with equipment based on innovative technology, such as the BWS control system, which permits high production outputs, achieves good sugar quality with low energy consumption, while providing operational reliability.

The continuous centrifugals are predominantly used for the production of raw sugar and after-product magmas. Their unique design provides advantages, such as the integrated acceleration cone which allows for the possibility of steam feeding by means of direct-drive square inline technology, which brings about a reduction of the massecuite viscosity and thereby an increase in separation efficiency, notes BWS Technologie.

The batch-type centrifugals are mainly used for the production of white sugar, refined sugar and dextrose production and have a unique slim basket design. The design and the specially-developed control system ensure a smooth and constant process flow, enabling high efficiency. Additional functions ensure operational reliability.

The company adds that the Buckau-Wolf vacuum pans with honeycomb calandrias are unique in their design and allow for capacity expansion. They are energy efficient and produce high quality sugar crystals. These calandrias can be retrofitted at any time in existing systems without any modifications to the regulating devices and the process equipment.

Homogenisers

BWS Technologie’s Supraton machines are dynamic rotor-stator homogenisers with multi-stage tool sets. They are used in a variety of applications, from automotive paint to toothpaste production.

The rotor and stator consist of concentric tool rings that are radially slotted or feature an axial milling surface. The rotors reach circumferential speeds of up to 50 m/s. The axial shearing gap can be adjusted with extreme precision to settings of less than 1 mm.

During the homogenisation process, the products are subjected to various physical effects, including multi-stage cutting in hydro-dynamic high shear fields, high frequency oscillating forces, intensive micro-volume mixing, and pressure build-up.

Owing to their special rotor-stator tools, the Supraton inline homogenisers achieve high throughput, an especially strong shearing of the product and good material exchange rates. This makes them ideal for dynamic inline processes such as homogenisation, mixing, dispersion, disintegration, emulsification, dissolving, reacting and grinding, explains BWS Technologie.

One of the advantages of the technology is its optimal tool configuration. The material, geometry and surfaces of the tool can be precisely adapted to various products and process conditions.

Moreover, all tools are manufactured from metal alloys or ceramic materials and achieve long service lives when processing abrasive and corrosive products.

The single-ring construction of the multi-stage tool set allows for an easy and economical tool exchange of individual rings and facilitates the optimisation of the process result.

Service

BWS Technologie is able to configure any of its machines to customer requirements, while also providing comprehensive process advice. The machines are produced in Germany at the company’s manufacturing facilities and prepared for installation on the customer’s premises, while commissioning is carried out by BWS Technologie employees, ensuring that the new BWS technology fits smoothly into the process environment from the outset.

The company also provides a 24-hour spare parts service to ensure that the main components are available at short notice at any time or place. Besides maintenance and repairs services, the BWS Technologie also offers modern diagnostic methods, recurrent tests and modernisation measures for its machines.