All raw materials sterilized as first step before further processing. Disc Dryer are designed for drying and not for sterilizing of rendered materials. Driers should carefully dry materials under low heat, ideally under vacuum to retain maximum nutrition and digestibility values in the meals.
ASTW introduces a new continuous, pressurized ASTW-Wet Sterilizer for raw materials that can be retrofitted to existing low temperature plants and installed after the disc pre-heater and before the press or decanter – solids separator.
ASTW – Continous Wet Sterilizer (CWS)
Sterilization is best achieved under wet conditions and under steam pressure to maximize the sterilization effect and minimizes damage to the protein.
Regulations, however, force renderers to use driers as sterilizers, thereby scorching dried material without the presence of water, destroying protein and nutrition value and increasing the risk of spontaneous combustion inside the drier and meal storage bins. It is also difficult to make a reliable setting on a disc drier and get reliable proof of Temp/Time for the dried and sterilized material, and to establish proof and back up documenting of how many minutes the material has been held under the required temperature.
For high temperature plants the unit can be installed before the cooker along with a disc pre-heater.
The new ASTW-Wet Sterilizer introduces “Dial-In” control over the required sterilization requirements for Time and Steam Pressure (Temperature) to comply with the regulations, all backed up with a data logging system, providing written proof and documentation of the sterilization data.
The sterilizer design assures full control that no material can bypass or “jump the queue” to the outlet end without being sterilized.
The ASTW-Continuous Wet Sterilizer sterilization process will give quarantine officials, regulatory agencies and foreign customer increased confidence in rendered meals, and at the same time increase the quality and nutrition value of meals for better prices and market access.
