News items March 2005

Hygienic design of production lines for high quality baby food Over the last couple of years the hygienic demands and regulation for the production of instant food for babies and children has developed rapidly. The strict food and hygiene legislation -both for the process, the installations and the plant- as well as the complexity of the food production process demand special expertise. For these reasons a production line for baby and children food should be carefully and co-ordinated engineered, designed, installed and commissioned. Cereal based instant porridge is given to children from the age of four months onwards. A balanced meal with the right amount of minerals and vitamins is undoubtedly very important for the health and growth of the child. Manufacturers of baby and children food are aware of that and therefore demand a constant quality and a recognisable colour, taste and texture of their product. Besides the requirements for the food characteristics, manufacturers are confronted with strict legislation and regulations.

GMF-Gouda has reached an agreement with ....... "Corus Staalfabrieken" in IJmuiden, The Netherlands, for the design and delivery of a complete sludge dehydration installation. The heart of this installation will consist of a GMF-Gouda Paddle Dryer, type 12W120. This model has a drying surface of 120 square meters and a capacity of 12 tons of sludge/hour. More than six years of preparations and technical meetings between Corus and GMF-Gouda, as well as an extensive number of tests in GMF-Gouda`s pilot plant, combined with on-site work with Corus, resulted in the final decision of Corus to choose this sludge dehydration installation. The complete installation will be put into service before the end of 2005. The process: After the production of steel, a sludge remains that mainly consists of iron oxide particles. The moisture content of this sludge is very high. By using centrifuges, the sludge is reduced to a moisture level of approximately 30%. Using the paddle dryer, Corus is able to dry this sludge to a final