Evaluation of effect of heating medium on the performance of a size reduction grid attached to a butter melter

Abstract

The effect of heating medium on the performance of a size reduction grid attached to a butter melter was evaluated in this study. Butter is generally kept in cold storage at low temperatures as 20-25 kg blocks. Butter blocks are melted in a vat before being further processed. The experimental setup consisted of a rectangular jacketed vat, provided with a grid of stainless steel pipes at the top. Hot water and steam were circulated alternatively through this grid. Evaluation was done in terms of cutting capacity, heat utilization efficiency, melted butter percentage, volumetric reduction ratio, overall heat transfer coefficient (U-value) and average temperature gradient in pipe network. Based on the study and subsequent analysis, it was observed that steam was advantageous over hot water, in reducing the time and energy requirement.