Process freeze dryer
26 - 1 050 kg/h | CONRAD™ series GEA Niro

Freeze drying is drying of an already deep frozen product in a vacuum below the triple point. Here water can only be present in two phases: ice and vapor. The ice will in a sublimation process pass through the water phase directly into vapor. This ensures that the product retains most of its original shape, color, taste and nutritients. If energy is applied the sublimation process will proceed faster.

The CONRAD™ plant is fully automatic and requires minimal staff for the continuous operation. Every movement and process parameter is carefully controlled, monitored and tagged through the most modern PLC/PC system. The CONRAD™ plant consist of four main sections:
- The cabinet, which is a long cylindrical chamber desgined to operate under vacuum. At the front-end - inside the cabinet - there is an elevator for stacking the trays with the frozen product. Each tray is entering the cabinet through an uniquely designed airlock system that allows the trays to enter without breaking the vacuum, which would otherwise have a negative impact on the sublimation process. When the elevator has made a full stack, the entire stack is pushed forward into the first drying zone, where the temperature on the heating plates is adjusted to the actual product type, composition and water content