Smart air technology for cleaner onions, facilities, and equipment

‘If we do our job well, you won’t notice we’re there,’ is a beloved quote from the Modesta team. The Dutch extraction specialist offers state-of-the-art dust collection systems, ensuring a clean factory floor, happy workers, and a premium product.

As an agricultural entrepreneur, you’re largely dependent on the functioning of your processing lines and the reliability of your equipment. Effective dust extraction plays a big role in that: on a clean factory floor, workers are not only happier, but machines also run more efficiently, need less maintenance, cause less unplanned downtime, and have a longer lifespan. If the dust extraction is well managed, the factory owner doesn’t have to worry about it and can focus on his business. This is where Modesta comes into play. Their dust collector solutions are reliable, robust, and efficient. Let’s have a look at why their systems work.

Modularity for energy efficiency

Modesta’s dust collector systems make use of a smart, modular technology, which ensures energy efficiency. Instead of using one big motor, Modesta uses several smaller ones. Based on the capacity that’s needed at a specific time, the fans are turned on and off to cope with the desired output, so they never perform outside of the ideal range. When the packing line is turned off, pneumatic dampers automatically close and the filter system decreases its capacity.

Another advantage of using cascading fans is continuity: if one of the fans has a problem, the system doesn’t have to shut down, because the others are still running. The dust collector can keep doing its job, while Modesta’s service engineers fix the problem quickly and remotely through a real-time connection.

Modesta’s systems also boast pre-separation options and low air to cloth ratios, which means their filter sleeves last much longer. The pressure on the filter bags is kept as low as possible, which results in the filter’s performance remaining constant and not deteriorating because of sleeves getting clogged. Modesta works exclusively with filter sleeves, which have a longer service life and durability than cartridge filters.

Active cleaning strategy

Apart from smart modularity, Modesta also uses an active cleaning strategy which ensures a cleaner agricultural product. They separate onion skins, dirt, and dust from the onions, for example by using a custom extraction hood developed specifically for the client. This results in reduced wear on the moving parts of the machine, but also ensures a cleaner onion that can be sold as a premium product. 

Smart handling of residual flows

When designing a factory, residual flows should be considered from the get-go. Modesta can help with that: for example, by advising on the ideal lay-out of the production line, taking the prevailing wind direction and compartmentalization into account. Modesta will make sure the airflow goes from clean to dirty, so there’s no imbalance between the areas of receiving and packing. Furthermore, Modesta’s systems are built to avoid contamination during the process. For instance, their waste scraper is fully enclosed, dust-proof and capable of handling high loads of waste mechanically without increasing energy costs.

Liza KarsemeijerOBM24