Industrial Vegetable Washer

What is Industrial Vegetable Washer?

Industrial Vegetable Washer is a kind of equipment designed for food processing industry, mainly used for washing vegetables, fruits, medicinal materials and other food raw materials in large quantities. It removes mud, impurities, pesticide residues, etc. through water flow, bubbles, brushing, high-pressure spraying, etc. to ensure food hygiene and safety.

Industrial vegetable cleaning machine is an automated equipment used in the field of food processing to efficiently clean the surface dirt, pesticide residues, and microorganisms of vegetables. Through the synergistic effects of multiple physical fields such as bubble impact, water jet, and brush friction, it achieves deep cleaning of vegetables. Its core functions include:

Waste separation: Using bubble rolling technology, dense bubbles with a diameter of 2-5mm are generated in the cleaning tank. When the bubbles burst, a micro jet with an impact force of 0.5-1.2N is formed, which can peel off 98% of the soil particles on the surface of root vegetables such as carrots and potatoes.

Pesticide degradation: Integrated ozone generator (concentration 3-5mg/L) decomposes organic phosphorus pesticides through strong oxidation. Experimental data shows that the degradation rate of dichlorvos reaches 96.7%, which complies with GB 2763-2021 "National Food Safety Standard Maximum Residue Limits for Pesticides in Food".

Microbial control: equipped with an 85 ℃ hot water spray system, combined with a 0.3% sodium hypochlorite solution, the killing rate of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus reaches 99.99%, meeting the hygiene requirements of the HACCP system for ready to eat vegetables.

2、 Technical characteristics and professional parameters

1. Multimodal cleaning system

Bubble cleaning module: equipped with 36 sets of microporous aerators, releasing 1200L of bubbles per minute, and controlling the bubble rising speed at 15-20cm/s to ensure that leafy vegetables (such as spinach and lettuce) maintain a completeness rate of ≥ 95% during the cleaning process.

High pressure spray module: using 6 sets of German Pringles nozzles, forming a fan-shaped spray angle of 60 ° water curtain, with adjustable water flow pressure of 0.3-0.5MPa, achieving a cleaning coverage rate of 100% for structurally complex vegetables such as broccoli and cauliflower.

Brush friction module: Select a nylon 66 brush roller with a diameter of 80mm, adjustable speed range of 30-120rpm, and control the skin damage rate of root vegetables such as potatoes and yams to ≤ 3%.

2. Intelligent control system

PLC+HMI architecture: Adopting Siemens S7-1200 series PLC, paired with 7-inch touch screen, supporting bilingual operation interface in Chinese and English. Can store 20 sets of cleaning process parameters, with a switching time of ≤ 5 seconds.

Sensor network: Integrated PT100 temperature sensor (accuracy ± 0.1 ℃), pressure transmitter (range 0-1MPa), and turbidity meter (resolution 0.1NTU), real-time monitoring of cleaning water quality parameters.

Remote monitoring function: Connected to the enterprise MES system through Modbus TCP protocol, it enables cloud storage and analysis of data such as cleaning duration, energy consumption, and fault codes, and supports remote diagnosis through mobile apps.

3. Energy saving and environmental protection design

Water circulation system: Adopting three-stage filtration (50 μ m bag filter+10 μ m precision filter+UV sterilization module), the recycling rate of cleaning water reaches 90%, saving 40% of water compared to traditional equipment. For example, a factory that processes 10 tons of vegetables per day can save 1460 tons of water annually.

Thermal energy recovery device: equipped with plate heat exchanger to recover the waste heat of spray wastewater, preheat the inlet water to 45 ℃, and combine with steam compression heat pump technology to reduce the comprehensive energy consumption to 0.12 kWh/kg, which is 35% energy-saving compared to traditional equipment.

3、 Typical application scenarios

1. Central kitchen vegetable processing

In the central kitchen of a certain chain catering group, the cleaning machine is used to process ready to eat vegetables such as lettuce and cucumber. By setting the process of bubble cleaning for 3 minutes and spray cleaning for 2 minutes, the microbiological indicators of the product meet the requirements of GB 14934-2016 "National Food Safety Standard for Disinfection of Tableware (Beverages)", and the manual cleaning cost is reduced from 0.8 yuan/kg to 0.3 yuan/kg.

2. Pre treatment of frozen vegetables

For the frozen edamame production line exported to Japan, the cleaning machine integrates an ozone sterilization module to reduce pesticide residues to below 0.01mg/kg during the cleaning stage, which is 5 times more efficient than traditional soaking processes. After testing, the peroxide value of the product is ≤ 0.25g/100g, which complies with SN/T 0626-2011 "Inspection Regulations for Export Frozen Vegetables".

3. Processing of pre made vegetable ingredients

In a prefabricated vegetable factory, the cleaning machine, vegetable slicer, and blanching machine form an automated production line to process root vegetables such as potatoes and carrots. By adjusting the brush speed to 80rpm, the skin damage rate is achieved to be ≤ 2%, reducing raw material loss by 15% compared to manual peeling, and the daily processing capacity reaches 8 tons.

4、 Maintenance and upkeep standards

1. Daily cleaning process

After the shift ends:

Drain the accumulated water in the cleaning tank, rinse the inner wall of the tank with a high-pressure water gun, and focus on cleaning the vegetable leaves wrapped by the brush roller.

Use food grade sodium hydroxide solution (pH=12) to cycle and clean for 15 minutes to remove protein precipitates.

Wipe the touch screen and operation panel with 75% alcohol to prevent cross contamination.

Weekly deep maintenance:

Disassemble the nozzle assembly and perform ultrasonic cleaning (frequency 40kHz, power 300W) to remove scale.

Check the wear of the brush roller. When the bristle length is reduced to 2/3 of its original length, it needs to be replaced to ensure the cleaning effect.

2. Maintenance of key components

Aerator replacement: When the bubble volume decreases to 70% of the initial value, the microporous aerator needs to be replaced. Taking 36 sets of aerators as an example, with a normal service life of 8000 hours, it is recommended to replace them preventively every 2 years.

Pump maintenance: Check the leakage of the pump shaft seal every month. When the leakage exceeds 5ml/min, replace the mechanical seal. The shaft seal made of silicon carbide material has a service life of up to 10000 hours.

Transmission system adjustment: Check the tension of the brush roller chain every quarter, and maintain the initial tension at 220N ± 10N by adjusting the tail wheel bolt to prevent slipping or deviation.

3. Seasonal maintenance points

Summer anti-corrosion: In environments with humidity greater than 75%, dry the interior of the control cabinet with compressed air after daily shutdown to prevent electrical components from being affected by moisture and short circuiting. It is recommended to install a temperature and humidity sensor that automatically activates the dehumidification function when the ambient humidity exceeds 80%.

Winter anti freezing cracking: When the ambient temperature is below 5 ℃, the accumulated water in the cleaning tank needs to be drained and filled with -10 ℃ anti freezing solution (40% ethylene glycol). At the same time, wrap insulation cotton around components such as water pumps and nozzles to prevent freezing damage.