Murray Hill, NJ - BOC Gases introduced the Macron loop system -- a breakthrough technology that gives poultry processors a safe, effective and economical means of reducing bacteria in the chiller bath -- last week, at the International Poultry Exposition in Atlanta, Ga. The system, the first of BOC Gases' SafeQuest family of products, was recently approved by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and utilizes ozone to disinfect and recycle water used in poultry processing.
According to Dennis Smithyman, BOC Gases' vice president of food markets, BOC has decades of experience with ozone applications, and is a leading provider of process and technology solutions to the global food industry. "This is the first of several innovative technologies centered on food safety being brought to market by BOC," said Smithyman. "Our technical expertise with ozone generating systems combined with our history as a leading supplier in the global food industry has helped us to shape this new technology specifically for poultry processors."
Technology
The Macron loop system is the first food safety product from BOC Gases, and is available in a variety of sizes depending on the size of the chiller bath and the organic load. Water taken from the chiller bath is moved by a sanitary pump to a mechanical filtration device called the Macron filter. Particles as small as 25 microns including organic matter, fats, oils and grease are removed from the water. The filtered water is then injected with ozone gas -- a powerful oxidant, which completely kills microorganisms in the water. The system then sends the bacteria-free water back to the chiller bath.
The system recycles the water at a rate of 800 gallons per minute, therefore effectively changing over the water every half hour. This clean water eliminates the cross contamination risk in chiller baths, and enables any additive oxidants to be more effective in reducing carcass contamination.
The advantage of ozone is that it quickly biodegrades to oxygen. Ozone must be generated on-site, where pure oxygen is fed into a generator in the presence of an electric field called a corona discharge. Much of the oxygen is then converted from 02 to 03 (ozone) and is passed to the water stream through a Venturi device.
BOC Gases is the leader in the emerging field of ozone applications for food. An international provider of food freezing, chilling and packaging technology, BOC combines engineering sophistication with world class support and service. The Macron loop system is the first in a series of SafeQuest food safety products from BOC Gases. The company is expected to launch other SafeQuest food safety technologies in the near future.
BOC Gases is the industrial gases business of The BOC Group (NYSE: BOX - news), the worldwide industrial gases, health care, vacuum technologies and distribution services company operating in more than 60 countries with sales last year of $6.4 billion. Further information about The BOC Group may be obtained on the Internet at http://www.boc.com.
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