The TORBED® Process

The Principle of Operation

The TORBED provides a novel method of processing particles of any shape in a gas stream which is normally hot air.

A well defined fluidised packed bed of raw material is floated over the blades and supported by the momentum of linear jets of process air.

The blade arrangement guides the process air flow at an angle to create a horizontal motion of the bed.

The underside of the bed is exposed to the high velocity impact of the gas stream leaving the blades and is quickly dissipated within the bed depth.

This creates a gently rotating bed of material which is continually mixing with the hot air passing through the bed. This principal dramatically increases the heat transfer rate in the process creating a homogeneous treatment of the product.

If the underside of the bed were the only part to be exposed to these conditions, the processing of the material would be uneven. It was found that causing the bed to flow in a toroidal (doughnut shaped) manner, all the bed material is exposed to the same conditions that exist at the base of the bed.

Thus the trade mark "TORBED" was derived from the toroidal bed concept.

Process advantages

• Rapid heat transfer rates
• Energy efficient
• Environmentally clean
• Controllable processing
• Compact size
• Homogeneous treatment

The "Energy Efficient" Electric Food Processors

The development of the unique 100% hot air re-circulation chamber, that is principally applied to the food industry, has provided a clean and low operating cost processor. The electrically heated TORBED's have been specifically designed to operate as batch processors allowing for a variety of free flowing food products that differ in size, shape and density to be processed. Operating in "Sample Mode" provides rapid sampling facility of single batches of product. In "Continuous Batch Mode" will operate for expended periods of time for faster and more precise method of processing. During the process cycle, waste gasses and product fines are continually expelled as they are created.

Cross Section of TORBED Electric Process Chamber

The process air is continuously re-circulated within the confines of the process chamber and is heated by an integral electric element assembly. This makes for a compact and supremely energy efficient process unit. Pre-weighted batches of product are deposited into the chamber and at the end of the precise retention time, are discharged via a dump door. All process parameters are variable for optimum control. The flexibility of this unique process allows for a wide range of different products to be processed. This novel concept can provide added advantages compared to conventional processing.