Food Industry

When one of America’s largest frozen pizza manufacturer’s decided it was time to replace their existing convection oven pre-melters, they selected The CMM Group to fulfill their needs. An infrared pre-melter, also commonly known as an IR cheese pre-melter, emits a flash of heat to the top of a frozen pizza to gently fuse the cheese and additional toppings together. This process reduces topping movement during the packaging and distribution processes. The CMM Group custom engineered the equipment to allow the manufacturer the freedom to choose between multiple recipe options through the use of adjustable temperature and line speeds. The unit was tailored to fit precisely within the vacated footprint of their previous system. An integrated removable conveyor, also designed by CMM, aids in the cleaning and sanitation process, while working in conjunction with the customer’s full line spiral freezer.

To control the 30+ pounds of ethanol emissions produced per hour from a food equipment production oven at its Kentucky pizza plant, one of the nation’s leading food companies installed a Catalytic Oxidizer from The CMM Group.

Installed on an outdoor concrete pad, the 3,500 scfm CMM Catalytic Oxidizer utilizes precious metal monolith catalyst to destroy 98% of the VOCs produced during the company’s 24 hours per day, 6 days per week production schedule.

With the installation of three ovens that operate 110-140 hours per 5-day week, a major Midwest baking operation producing white pan bread needed to install air pollution controls. Because of their responsiveness and ability to meet the customer’s time constraints, The CMM Group was selected for a turnkey installation of a Recuperative Catalytic Oxidizer to destroy the 20-50 pounds of ethanol emissions produced per hour in the bread and roll baking oven exhaust.

Outfitted with monolith block, platinum group precious metal catalyst, the CMM Recuperative Catalytic Oxidizer is designed to operate transparent to the production facility. Exhaust emissions from the baking process are automatically collected in a common ductwork header and directed to the 12,000 scfm oxidizer.

In addition to the primary air-to-air heat exchanger, an air-to-glycol coil energy recovery system was designed for the unit to provide additional energy savings. The system can heat up to 50 gallons of glycol per minute, raising its temperature from 50°F to 200°F to supply the heat energy for three tray washers and two air make-up units. Lower exhaust flows are prioritized based on current load conditions (summer/winter) and the need to run the tray washers.