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Pectin Australia Pty. Ltd.

VIBROSCREEN Separators Help Make Pectin

Australia has opened its first factory for the manufacture of pectin — used widely in food processing — at Griffith in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area (MIA).

Before this factory was built, pectin had been imported from the USA and Europe so the new process will significantly help Australia's balance of payments.

Pectin Australia Pty. Ltd. is producing the pectin from the peelings of citrus fruit — once a wasted resource — and this is the reason the new industry has been located in the rich fruit growing MIA. Three Kason VIBROSCREEN separators manufactured under license by Warman International are playing a vital part in the new production process.

Pectin Australia's Managing Director, Mr. Stephen Finch, explaining the process, said that the citrus fruit peelings were first chopped into small pieces. The peel is passed through a series of tanks, washed, and then the juice separated from the peelings.

"The VIBROSCREEN separators are essential in separating juice from peel," said Mr. Finch. "The machines vibrate vigorously at a tremendous rate — vital for producing pure pectin." Mr. Finch said he first learned about Kason VIBROSCREENS when conducting experiments at Hawkesbury Agricultural College. "It worked most efficiently for sifting and separating different products, so I decided to use it in the new pectin factory," he said. "It is a fantastic piece of machinery, highly efficient and very reliable. The VIBROSCREEN is playing a critical role in this new production process."
 
Warman engineer Richard Wrigley said Kason VIBROSCREENS use multi-plane vibration techniques to classify material according to particular size, or as in the case of Pectin Australia to separate pulp from juice.

The vibrator assembly is supported on rugged springs to prevent vibration being transferred to the floor on which it stands. "The result is a compact, highly efficient, quietly operating machine." Wrigley said the Kason VIBROSCREEN was ideal for solving the most difficult problems in many industries including food, chemical and mineral production. The pectin being produced at Griffith is used in hundreds of everyday items, from jams and jellies to sunscreens and cosmetics.

Screen Tips - Volume 4, Number 3 Fall 1989