Things Heat Up for Chicken Fryer

Deep frying has been around for nearly a thousand years. The process consists of completely submerging battered food in oil at temperatures ranging from 350 °F to 375 °F (177 °C to 191 °C). Once the food has been submerged in the oil, heat conducts throughout the food causing proteins to denature, starches to undergo gelatinization, and dietary fiber to soften. As the sugars and proteins break down, a golden brown exterior is created.

A company in China was using bag house dust collectors to collect the grease fumes given off by their commercial chicken frying process. The sticky nature of the grease particles, along with the high humidity of the air stream, was causing the bags to become clogged.

Additionally, the collected particulate would not pulse off the bags. Airflow began to decrease as the particles continued to build up on the filters, requiring more frequent change outs and additional maintenance costs. The company came to the AAF Malaysia office for a possible solution.

Challenge

The customer was having trouble collecting the oil fumes that were being produced by their commercial chicken frying process. The exhausted air carried not only sticky grease droplets, but a high amount of water vapor as well. This combination posed a problem for the existing bag collectors, as the grease and water vapor clung to the media, preventing the captured particles from being pulsed off. This issue caused decreased airflow, which shortened filter life and increased maintenance costs. 

Solution

The RotoClone® W was selected as a potential solution since it uses water as the primary collection medium. Since there is no fabric filter medium, the high humidity of the air stream was not an issue. Because the RotoClone® W excels at collecting sticky dusts, the constant supply of water, along with the centrifugal action of the impeller, prevented the build of slurry in the unit. As a result, the unit is now able to continuously supply a constant airflow.

Benefits

The installed RotoClone® W was able to capture the oil and water particles given off at three collection points. Due to the increased performance and lowered maintenance costs, the customer is actively looking into adding four additional RotoClone® W’s to collect the fumes from their process.