A product invented for the dairy industry can help reduce the danger of wood dust explosions.
Ever since the wood industry began, fire in the mill has been an underlying danger. Spontaneous combustion of wood chips, wood dust fires and explosions, are events that can wreak havoc and result in major damage and costs. In the worst cases, they take the lives of workers.
Mills have extensive and sophisticated systems to catch and extinguish sparks which could initiate a fire or explosion. Prevention is the right solution, certainly, but what if the unthinkable happens?
Media Coverage
Mill Product News – Controlling Wood Dust Explosions
Food Engineering Magazine – Dry Processing Technology
For more than 50 years, Zweifel Pomy-Chips, AG, (Spreitenbach, Switzerland) has been one of the largest snack food manufacturers in Europe. The company produces about 5,000 tons of potato chips annually, and another 1,200 tons of snacks are produced from grain and corn.
Known for innovative chip flavors and recipes such as Nature, Paprika, Provençale, Curry and Mexican, Zweifel strives for quality coating and consistent delivery of the seasoning blend to the potato chip manufacturing process. The problem was that existing equipment wasn’t delivering consistent quantities and perfectly repeatable blends to the coating process. This not only affected flavor but also wasted expensive ingredients when greater-than-needed amounts were delivered. Zweifel needed a better way to meter the ingredients to the coating process.






