JBT has introduced a new extension upgrade kit for existing JBT SP-20 and SP-30 tomato peelers which can greatly improve the performance and efficiency of older machinery, preserving more meat and juice, while increasing the typical output of the systems.
The subject of a year-long trial with a JBT customer in Northern California, the Extended Vacuum Kit significantly boosts average production volumes, in the process making older equipment competitive with newer models and commercially viable.
The upgrade kit has been developed by JBT to modify the SP-20 and SP-30 Tomato Peeling Systems, used successfully by leading tomato processors for many years, which will substantially improve throughput capacity and peeling performance.
JBT’s SP-30 with the Extended Vacuum Kit
Dramatic results
The extended vacuum kit will enable dramatic improvements in both throughput and peel removal efficiency, with a minimal investment, according to JBT’s Chuck Ward.
“The SP-20 and SP-30 peelers have a small vacuum area contained within the discharge value, which is used to peel the tomato – now we’ve added a second valve on the discharge and a vacuum chute in-between those two valves, which increases the area of vacuum and exposure time on the tomatoes,” he explains. “It dislodges the skins much more efficiently, in the process increasing the capacity of the peelers from 30 tonnes per hour to 45 tonnes per hour.”
The upgrade kit also removes the risk of over-peeling by ensuring more efficient tomato skin removal. “With the old system, a lot of people over peeled, taking away the juice and the meat,” says Ward. “With the vacuum chute extension upgrade kit, the tomatoes come out very clean and just the peels are removed, so it’s made an older machine competitive and viable again.”
In the case of the Northern California trial, Ward says the customer – who runs five additional SP-20 peelers, could achieve the same level of output with much greater quality, with just three peelers, thanks to the extended vacuum kit.