Spiral feeding of chocolate

A spiral conveyor, supplied by Spiroflow, has been installed at Thomas Tunnock, Glasgow, as part of a chocolate pre-blending plant.

Three dry ingredients are mixed before blending with liquid components. All three can be delivered from the conveyor system although at present only two feed points are being used.

In tests Spiroflow's standard spiral equipment with a round cross-section coped with two of the ingredients -- sugar and a chocolate crumb. However, the required rate could not be achieved with the brand of chocolate supplied as a slab due to build-up on the spiral.

A Spiroflow spiral with a bevelled cross-section solved the problem -- one wound from stainless steel is fitted to the conveyor at Thomas Tunnock. It places more of the surface area in contact with the product, thus giving greater propulsion and preventing build-up on the surface.

The conveyor is now running for 30 minutes at a time, delivering 2,000kg of dry ingredients into the pre-mixer at least six times a day.

Contact: Spiroflow,

Tel: 01200 422525

Stack/nest containers handle ingredients throughout the supply chain