Some years ago, a veteran tomato paste plant manager shared some wisdom with me. He said, “you know, all we really do around here is boil water”
Of course, his words were a bit of an oversimplification, but true none the less. Its also true that the plant that can “boil water” more efficiently than the competitor has a definite edge in the market.
To help give processors that competitive edge, Ing. A. Rossi has conceived the THOR Hybrid Flow MVR Evaporator. By combining Mechanical Vapor Recompression (MVR) technology with high recirculation rates and unique, hybrid flow in the heat exchanger tubes, they have created the first high efficiency evaporation system that actually fits the needs of California Processors.
THOR is guaranteed, and proven with California Tomatoes, to run for a minimum of 40 days without need to stop production for cleaning. No other high efficiency evaporator for Tomato can do this. Energy efficiency is also unsurpassed. The THOR MVR technology, when combined with a properly designed Low Pressure Steam Distribution network allows almost 100% of live steam input to be reused by other plant equipment. Plus, THOR is capable of reaching concentrations of up to 12 Brix, and with its advanced, fully automatic control system, can operate two modes. Brix setpoint mode is ideal for production of finished sauce or passata, or Evaporation Rate setpoint mode to accommodate varying flow rates of incoming product when used as a pre-concentrator.
In addition to multiple installations worldwide, two THOR units are in successful operation on Tomato in Woodland, CA. Multiple configurations are available with evaporation rates up to 80,000 lb/hr.
