UHDE, based near Dortmund in Germany, have been making high pressure pumps for 80 years and high pressure processing systems for 20 years. Holmach is their first agent worldwide.
High pressure processing is achieved through treating materials suspended in water at pressures of 6000 bar. This has the effect of rupturing microorganisms, without the need to heat the product, while leaving smaller particles unchanged. Products can be packed in sachets, skin packs, doy-packs or trays, and any raw ingredients will remain so once treated.
As a system, this is particularly suited to products that cannot take any heat, such as guacamole, spinach, kelp, juice or smoothies where there is no thermal destruction of enzymes or vitamins. HPP also represents a good option for high value items such as shell fish, which not only are pasteurised while remaining raw, they are also “shucked” from shells in the process.
UHDE produce the entire machine in house. The application of 80 years of experience, combined with high quality manufacturing means that they offer much lower operational running cost compared with competitors, as typically their pumps can run many thousands of cycles (upwards of 8,000 compared with around 2-3000 by their competition). Strip down time is reduced by the clever patented design of both the pressure pumps and the plugs that seal the chamber. The chamber, valves and so on are all rated and tested to 7000 Bar. Spare parts are available overnight because of the common connection with their Low Density Polyethylene Plants that have to run 24/7. They offer 24/7/365 service and next day on site guarantee.
From a 50l machine available as a pilot unit for testing at UHDE, standard machines are offered at 150l and 350l. The vessel capacity dictates the size and number of cassettes filled with packs that the machine can process in a single cycle. UHDE also offers a “twin” 350l set for continuous processing, where one unit can be loaded as the other processes, offering in effect a 700l system where one machine can still run if the other is offline.
Validation and proof of process is available through Campden BRI or their German counterpart, the Fraunhoffer Institute.
www.uhde-hpp.com