Process steam for the sausage casing

Walsroder Casings GmbH, a company of the American Viskase Companies, produces high-quality artificial casings for the meat processing industry and butchers.

The company uses different vegetable pulps from overseas to produce sausage casings, which are processed into a composite material. The backing paper, which is also made of pure cellulose, remains highly tear-resistant even at higher moisture levels and in thicknesses of 15 -25 g/m² - cellulose fibres are considered the ideal material for sustainable sausage production.

In one step, parts of the vegetable pulp are liquefied and then diffuse or penetrate the carrier material. This creates the adhesive for the seam and the outer coating.

Of the three new steam generators, one has been operating in summer and two in winter since the beginning of 2019. After a detailed analysis of the time of day and the seasons, it was found that the dependence on the outside temperature is of decisive importance. In summer, Walsroder Casings GmbH usually requires a maximum of half a tonne of steam per hour, which led to the design of a steam generator of up to 0.7 t/h. 

What is enough for the summer is by no means enough for the winter: For higher loads, two more Clayton steam generators are available here, each with a capacity of 2 tonnes of steam. All the new units operate in master-slave mode and priority switching, provided that the required steam output rises to 4.5 tonnes per hour. 

"Due to the intelligent control system, we are able to determine at any time at the push of a button which of the three boilers should work in master mode. In summer it is the small one, in winter possibly one of the larger ones," Andreas Willers, technical operations manager at Walsroder Casings GmbH, comments. "Depending on the acceptance, the control system reacts pressure-dependently and automatically switches on the required steam generators." The company relies on natural gas as main fuel.