Pilot Plant

Upscaling from bench top to manufacturing scale
     

Using line production time to mimic bench-top research and development is complicated, schedule challenging, and expensive.  The National Starch Food Innovation Pilot Plant capitalizes on these limitations thus creating opportunities that accelerate speed to market while reducing cost.  As a result, companies have worked with us on scale-up projects demonstrating amazing successes unattainable in their own facilities.  This type of synergy only results when innovative facilities, cutting-edge equipment, and proven experts are focused intensely on a project.  National Starch provides all of these components to aid your company in formulating new product development successes. 

Our state-of-the-art Pilot Plant was designed utilizing independent processing bays.   The multi-bay format creates extreme flexibility in allowing multiple food products to be processed independently from each other.  In addition, each processing bay has steam, hot and cold water, air conditioning/ventilation, 480 volt - 3 phrase electric, and compressed air to service all special equipment hook-ups.  Currently, there are four bays dedicated to:

  • Dairy Processing
  • Hot/Fry-Cook Processing
  • Pourable and Spoonable Dressings
  • Candies
  • Batter and Breading
  • Cook-Up Soups, Sauces, and Gravies
  • Bakery/Emulsification-Encapsulation Processing
  • Canning

Each processing bay contains specific equipment necessary to support the designated food application areas. 

The Dairy Processing Bay has the following equipment installed for project work:

  • MicroThermics Tubular Heat Exchangers
  • Niro-Soavi Dual Stage Homogenizers
  • Product Mixing Stations with Breddo Likwifier
  • Clean-Filling Aseptic Hood
  • Technogel 100 Continuous Ice Cream Freezer
  • Irinox Blast Chiller
  • Walk-In Refrigeration Storage Cooler
  • NAPCO Incubator
  • Temperature/pH Controlled Incubation Baths

The Hot/Fry-Cook Processing Equipment Bay includes:

  • Groen Steam Kettles
  • Instantaneous Steam Injection Sanitary Heater (Steam Jet Cooker)
  • Frymaster Electric Fryer
  • Blenteck Laboratory Cheese Cooker
  • Despatch Drying Oven
  • Charlotte Colloid Mill
  • Brucks Pan Coater

The Bakery/Emulsification-Encapsulation Processing Bay contains:

  • Niro Production Minor Spray Dryer
  • Fluid Bed Dryer/Agglomerator
  • V-Blender
  • Centrifuge
  • Hobart Dough Mixers
  • Rondo Reversible Dough Sheeter
  • Glimek Bread Moulder
  • Pasta/Noodle Sheeter
  • Belshaw’s Econo-Proofer
  • Revent Convection Oven
  • Impingement Oven

Finally, major equipment in the Canning Processing Bay includes:

  • Rotary Retort
  • Pressure Brabender

Facilities do not maintain themselves; nor, does equipment run itself.  Technicians, who have the proper skill set and dedication, are required to keep this broad range of equipment and capabilities working at peak performance.  In order to fulfill these requirements, National Starch has full-time staff to operate the pilot plant so our facility is ready for maximum productivity.  Perhaps most importantly is the multitude of application experts available for immediate consultation.  Experts in dairy, bakery, candy, soups, sauces, gravies, dressings, batter and breading, pasta, and snack foods are waiting to assist your company in taking a bench-top formulation to the next level. 

Whether you want to understand the larger problems associated with scaling up bench-top formulations, make marketing samples, or test multiple variables within defined parameters, National Starch’s Pilot Plant is one contritbutor to many success stories in the market place