WINNER
Anderson Engineering
For the Design and Manufacture of the Anderson Andpure Magnetic Mixer and the Anderson Contramix
After being in business for 58 years Anderson Engineering is a firmly entrenched part of the South African landscape although they work across the continent and overseas. Anderson is perhaps best known for their innovative turnkey solutions that seamlessly integrate into their clients’ production lines.
With this product development award Anderson is being recognised for two remarkable products: the Anderson Andpure Magnetic Mixer and the Anderson Andpure Contramix.
The Magnetic Mixer addresses a key problem faced by certain niche manufacturers that have ultra-hygienic requirements. In a conventional mixer the mixing blade rotates on a shaft that extends outside of the vessel where it meets the drive mechanism. At the point where it exits it passes through a mechanical seal.
Historically, these seals are prone to leakage and failure and may also have crevices where material can collect. In many industries this is mediated by seal replacement or cleaning but when the requirement is ultra-hygienic - such as in the pharmaceutical industry - no compromise can be made.
The Anderson Andpure Magnetic Mixer elegantly solves this problem by eliminating the seal completely. Inside of a stainless steel, fully welded case, the mixing element is rotated by magnetic fields instead of direct drive. The result is a sterile, ultra-hygienic system that has no leakage points and no crevices where material could conceivably collect. Moreover it offers increased efficiency over a regular mixer because it requires far less maintenance than its mechanical counterparts.
The entire mixer can be broken down in about three minutes for cleaning via autoclave offering significant time saving in production environments. It scales well offering mixing capacity of up to 1 000 L volumes.
The Anderson Andpure Contramix is a low shear, high product turnover mixer designed specifically for emulsions, suspensions and pastes and can be built for batches as small as 20 L and as large as 6 000 L. The Andpure Contramix introduces a number of key innovations over traditional
designs.
Conventionally, the vessel’s lid is secured with hand nuts to maintain rated pressure during operation. This is effective but slow to open and close. The Anderson Contramix has an automated opening system based on pneumatics and locking blocks that offers customers easy and fast opening when cleaning is necessary offering a significant time saving.
The device’s framework has been improved using polished pipes that reduce its footprint on the factory floor making it easy to clean below the machine. The traditional hydraulics responsible for lowering the lid onto the shell have been replaced with a mechanical gear driven ball
screw system eliminating the possible risk of contamination via hydraulic fluid which is present in all hydraulic equipment and makes the Contramix even more hygienic.
Contact : Anderson Engineering
Tel : 033 387 1544
Website : www.andersoneng.co.za
RUNNER UP
Transfrig
For the Design and Manufacture of a Truck Refrigeration System using a 1000 litre Stainless Steel Cryogenic Vessel
Transfrig is the only manufacturer of transport refrigeration equipment in South Africa and has been servicing the industry for over 3 decades. Their units are designed for African conditions. Transfrig has the perfect refrigeration system solution to suit your needs from fresh to deep frozen applications, for small LDV’s to large rigid vehicles, with or without electric standby.
Transfrig has developed a cryogenic truck refrigeration system known as the Cryo-Fridge that uses a 1 000 L stainless steel cryogenic vessel to provide refrigeration through heat exchangers made from 304 stainless steel and copper. The vessels and heat exchangers are all manufactured locally. The system has very few moving parts and maintenance costs are low.
Transfrig has a variety of refrigeration solutions including cryogenic & diesel dual refrigeration systems for large trucks and even heating at medium temperature applications.
Transfrig has a fleet of roughly 60 Cryo-Fridge’s on South African roads. They are currently commissioning a further 30 Cryo- Fridges and average a yearly output of 1 200 refrigeration units in various system configurations.
Transfrig has excelled in stainless steel product development by using 304 stainless steel in their heat exchangers as well as the vessels due to its material performance characteristics at temperatures as low as -196°C.
Their Cryo-Fridge uses no fossil fuels to achieve cooling and is the green refrigeration solution for trailer’s and large trucks. Pressure to create flow through the system comes by means of using the nitrogen in liquid form, boiling it off through a small heat exchanger and returning the nitrogen in gas form back into the tank which then creates a high enough pressure to cause the liquid to flow through the refrigeration system.
Transfrig also make use of solar power panels mounted with only stainless steel fittings to energize the electronic controls.
Contact : Transfrig
Tel : 011 608 0462
Website : www.transfrig.co.za