• MasoSine pumps selected by Thimonnier for flexible pouch packaging machines
• Two EcoSine EC25 pump heads used per machine
The Thimonnier Company, a world leader in the design and manufacture of flexible pouch packaging machines, has integrated MasoSine EC25 pumps from Watson-Marlow Pumps Group into a new machine designed for packaging béchamel sauce. The pumps successfully convey the sauce to dosing nozzles without mixing or shearing the product.
“The main priority,” explains Frédéric Roumanet, design office manager at Thimonnier, which is based near Lyon, France “was to meet requirements for hygiene and gentle product handling.”
MasoSine pumps do not have any valves, and their four chambers are sealed. This makes them ideal for fluids containing fragile pieces or particles, such as sauces and soups. The Thimonnier Company had already contacted Watson-Marlow in the past about an application for the transfer of soup containing pieces and the EcoSine EC25 is now very successful in this type of application. In fact, this machine was supplied to a customer in Finland where it has been operating successfully for over a year.
No product shearing
In light of this positive experience, Mr Roumanet decided to choose a MasoSine pump again, this time for the transfer of béchamel sauce.
“The EcoSine EC25 pump maintains product integrity thanks to its sinusoidal rotor, which does not shear the product,” he says.
In fact, the rotor in the form of a sine wave creates four moving chambers that gently transport the fluid from the suction side to the discharge side for transfer without any variations in volume. The gate prevents any fluid from passing back from the discharge side of the pump to the suction side. Furthermore, the EcoSine pump is compact and takes up little space, making it ideal for OEM applications
“Two EC25 pump heads have therefore been integrated into our packaging machine,” says Mr Roumanet. “The pump heads gently convey the béchamel sauce to the buses for dosage into the pouches.”
Hygiene assured
“Cleaning-In-Place [CIP] is a priority for this type of packaging machine,” he continues. “However, the various ways of positioning the EC25 pumpheads made it possible for us to eliminate any bacteria retention zones.”
Maintenance is also straightforward. In fact, it takes less than 10 minutes to dismantle an EcoSine pump to inspect it or replace a part, thus minimising downtime. The pump can be dismantled in-situ and does not require any special training or skills; a few simple instructions are sufficient.