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| Solenoids in High Speed Food Processing |
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In the food processing industry, high speed / high pressure water jets are used to cut poultry and fish. Due to the unique features of speed, reliability, and compact size, a manufacturer of food processing equipment has selected a size 4, 30 degree Ultimag® actuator for its newest generation of equipment. Previous generations of equipment used pneumatic actuators that had a tendency to have more down time. Pneumatic actuators also ran slower than the manufacturer of the processing equipment desired. Slower speeds caused reduced cutting efficiencies and caused excessive wear on the four control needle valves, again adding to down time.
The Ultimag actuator replaced the pneumatics used in the critical function of the on/off control of the needle water cutting valves. These valves regulate razor thin water streams with outputs in excess of 5000 psi. During normal operation, these machines may slice, dice, and cut up to a ton of meat per hour. The machines may make strips, fillets, and nuggets. In this on/off application, the Ultimag is first hit with 42 volts for 50 msec to initiate the movement of the rotor which in turn opens the valve. The voltage is then switched to a PWM holding circuit at 18 volts for up to 1 second. Finally, the Ultimag is hit with another 42 volts in reverse polarity to force the valve to close. The cycle is repeated up to 1500 timer per hour.
The Ultimag operates 4 times faster than the equivalent pneumatic system in this application. The Ultimag is also lighter and easier to electrically control. These attributes, combined with the reduced scrap and increased efficiencies and speeds provided a winning application for the Ultimag®.
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