Potato Grading & Washing Line
LEV SWEDEN
One of Sweden’s largest potato growers and processors, LEV, chose Tong Engineering when upgrading it’s potato grading and washing facility for increased throughput and a higher specification end product.
Incorporating Tong’s market leading 160° heavy duty potato box tipper alongside Tong’s latest all-electric Revolver box tipper, both feeding potatoes onto the line, the new grading and handling system sees crop fed evenly onto a PU star cleaning unit by a high-capacity Tong even flow hopper which receives potatoes from the tippers.
Potatoes are graded on Tong’s EasyGrade screen sizing modules. Potato washing in a new generation Tong potato barrel washer means crop is gently washed before polishing commences with a Martin Maq vegetable polisher, of which Tong is a distributor of.
Efficiency & Productivity
Sweden’s largest potato growers and processors, LEV, chose Tong Engineering for their potato washing & optical sorting machinery.
“We have worked with LEV previously, supplying them with a high throughput potato washing system through our Scandinavian dealer Bo Adolfsson, so we have an ongoing relationship with the company and know how they like to work,” said Charlie Rich, Export Sales Manager at Tong Engineering.
Local Support
“When it came to upgrading their grading and washing facilities this time, we needed to ensure that all the processes they required could be carried out in one building. Although the measurements were a little tight, we have designed a potato grading and washing line that utilises the space most efficiently and means they can now process between 30 and 40 tonnes of crop per hour.”
“Our installation engineers travelled to Sweden to install and commission the line, and our dealer Bo Adolfsson will continue to offer local support for any future sales and service requirements they may have,” added Charlie.
High Capacity
After polishing, crop is dried on a latest-design Tong sponge dryer which features a Blue Inverter Technology direct driven motor on every shaft for optimum efficiency and easy maintenance. Crop is then optically sorted via a high capacity optical potato sorter before it is gently fed into boxes with Tong’s single box fillers.
FAQs
Our stores and service team are committed to offering our customers vital support when its needed most. Always on hand, with an out of hours emergency call-out service, our team of engineers offer the vital spares, service and onsite support you need to ensure downtime is kept to a minimum. We understand the need of growers and packers needing to maintain continuous throughput. This is a service we are happy to provide.
The return on investment for optical sorting equipment varies by application, but industry data demonstrates substantial financial benefits.
A single-stream MRF can achieve an overall payback period of 2.5 years after installing optical sorting equipment.
Generally, a payback period of one to three years is considered acceptable and a good investment for industrial equipment.
Modern optical sorter manufacturers can calculate the payback period precisely with clients based on their specific capacity and operational needs.
Optical sorting technology plays a crucial role in minimising food waste throughout the production process by enabling early defect detection and precise quality control.
Implementation of optical sorting systems has shown households can reduce their general waste by up to 65% after replacing old recycling methods
Advanced optical sorters with enhanced multispectral capabilities are forecast to enable industries to achieve a 30% reduction in waste