Pump it up

French processing company Valentin Traiteur uses modified atmosphere packaging for its snack products, which requires vacuum pumps.

As its old vacuum pumps were far from clean, having to sit in drip trays so the oil didn’t wind up downstairs in the production hall, the company turned to Atlas Copco for a new vacuum pump, installing a GHS 350 VSD+.

Mark Taylor, marketing manager, Atlas Copco Utility Vacuum, says, “It replaces not one, but two vacuum pumps from the competition. Each of those was fitted with a 5.5kW motor. With the GHS, we only need a 7.5kW motor. That brings significant savings for our customer. In this particular case, Valentin Traiteur has calculated energy savings in the region of 35 per cent.”

The company opted for the turbo version of the vacuum pump, which, Taylor says, “reaches maximum pumping speed in the minimum time”.

“Valentin Traiteur is saving half a second on each cycle. That might not sound like very much, but over a year’s operation, this equates to tens of thousands of additional packs,” he adds.