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Early in 2001, as part of our expansion
plans, it was decided to purchase a Baader 142 gutting machine.
Because it was not just a case of getting the gutting machine
and ‘plugging it in’, we had to make some alterations
within our factory. Several Companies were contacted regarding
the work required, but really only one company made the commitment
and showed any real interest. This was Scanbio Scotland. The project
involved a 3 stage approach.
The first was to fabricate and install conveyors to feed
the gutting machine and to take the boxed fish away. Two automatic
conveyors were installed, one feeding the gutting machine
and one feeding the manual line. A simple 60kg scale controls
the conveyor feeding the gutting machine so that there is
always salmon in the hopper to go through the machine. Alterations
were also made to the bin tipper and fish hopper so that they
worked with the new equipment. A complete set of gravity roller
conveyors were also installed as part of this project. The
original ones were in poor condition and additional new ones
were also required in the new layout.
The second stage was to fabricate and install offal removal
and blood water/ice removal systems. The offal removal involved
installing a centralised tank and pump. All the fish offal
was to be collected in this small tank and pumped out of the
building into our ensiling tank. This involved re-routing
pipe work from the gutting machine cyclones to the offal tank.
Also part of this stage of the project was the automatic removal
of the blood water and ice. Normal practice meant that when
bins of salmon were tipped, all the blood water and ice ended
up on the floor, eventually running to the drain. With the
ice on the floor, safety was an important element. Scanbio Scotland
built a tank under the tipper/hopper, which now collects almost
all of the blood water and ice. A pump and knife valve was
added as part of this so that when the bins were tipped the
pump started automatically. This waste is then pumped approximately
30 meters to the ice dump.
The third stage was to fabricate and install a vacuum system
for kidney removal on the manual gutting line. This involved
the installation of 3 liquid ring vacuum pumps and pipe work,
a cyclone and 8 vacuum spoons. Again the solid waste from
this was pumped directly to the offal tank. The vacuum pumps
are set up in such a way that they run in sequence, so if
only one is required, only one will run.
The alterations carried out by Scanbio Scotland have meant that we
no longer have to deal with offal, have no health and safety
fears with ice on the floor and have improved the general
cleanliness of the primary processing area.
Because we were still processing during these projects, Scanbio Scotland
had to work around us. This they did with no hesitation, working
weekends and through the night to get the jobs done, always
allowing plenty of time to get cleaning and disinfection done
ready to start processing.
As with any new installation there will inevitably be teething
problems, and there were a few with these projects. What we
found with Scanbio Scotland was that once tasked with any given problem,
they were always quick to respond. Scanbio Scotland were also quick
to lend help and advice, working closely with Bryan Rendall
(Electrical), our local electrical specialist.
Kevin Tait, Orkney Salmon Co. August 2002
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