Liquid Egg Processing Planning and Design

Facing an increasing demand for liquid egg products, the company decided the fastest way to bring a new plant online was to convert an older grading facility into one that could produce liquid eggs. An existing egg-grading facility was located and evaluated by our firm for conversion. Although the facility needed major upgrades for conversion, such concerns did not deter Perham Egg from retrofitting the space, partly due to the large on-site storage and access to a shell egg supplier.

The plan was devised to create an efficient layout and design for the manual tasks involved in egg processing. Such tasks included receiving and placing shell eggs into cold storage, moving to warming rooms to heat the eggs prior to breaking, and placing the egg flats for automatic unloading. Machines were selected and placed into the layout for the automated washing, candling, breaking, and separation (yokes from whites). Pumps, heat exchangers, and storage tanks were then integrated into the layout for the pumping, chilling, and storage of the liquid yoke and egg whites.

Food Processing Environment

A hygienic, washable environment was created to accommodate the breaking and storage of liquid eggs. The walls, floors, and ceilings were built using impervious material that can withstand high-pressure wash hoses. In addition, the air handling system was designed for high levels of filtration. The filtration level is MERV 17 (99.97% @ 0.3 microns), and the room temperature is designed at 75°F. One hundred percent of the air in this system is outside air. These areas are maintained under positive air pressure to prevent air infiltration from other spaces.

Waste Handling: Solid and Liquid

The removal and treatment of both solid and liquid waste was a primary concern for the renovation of this facility. The process of breaking eggs to extract the liquid contents creates large amounts of inedible by-products, including shells and waste liquid egg. The plant was designed by FPE to handle this waste in two ways:

• Inedible product captured in the process—by workers or by the automated processing equipment—is moved via a screw conveyor to a shell separator, which separates the shells from the liquid inedible product. Shells are then conveyed to a solids trailer that is removed from the site on a weekly basis. The liquid inedible product is pumped to a by-product holding tank, which is then pumped as needed to an inedible product handling truck for off-site disposal.
   
• Inedible product captured by the building floor drain system during sanitation is pumped to a rotary drum screen to separate the solid waste. The solid waste is conveyed to a solids trailer that is removed from the site regularly. 

A new pre-treatment system was needed to handle the amount of liquid waste generated by the plant. The challenge was to create a system that would work with the existing location of the plant sewer discharge while collecting liquid waste on the opposite side of the plant. The solution was to pump the liquid waste to an equalization tank located closest to most of the generated waste. The equalization tank also serves to control and maintain the pH. Equalized liquid waste is then pumped through flocculent tubes and into a dissolved air filtration (DAF) for treatment located on the other side of the plant. Clean wastewater is tested and balanced for pH and sent to the city sewer system. The remaining by-products from the DAF system are pumped to the by-product holding tank, which is then pumped as needed to an inedible product handling truck for off-site disposal.

How to unleash production when the bottlenecks clear

Supply chain woes may have limited your ability to meet a rising demand for your product. And labor shortages—already a problem pre-pandemic—have worsened the situation for everyone in the food industry. As you scramble to obtain everything from ingredients to packaging materials, it’s likely that your focus on immediate needs has left little time to think about tomorrow. Expanding or upgrading your facility may seem like an impossible dream now.

But at some point, this will end.

And when it does, food processors that have planned will be ready to move forward and ramp up production, even if labor remains scarce. Here’s how to prepare:

Set Goals

Manufacturers are frequently in a hurry. “What is your timeline?” is often answered with “Yesterday” by those seeking engineering and professional design assistance. If you’re grappling with a recall or a food safety threat, the need is urgent, indeed. But if you’ve been putting off a renovation, struggling with consistent operational inefficiencies or waiting for the perfect time to automate a process, the time to start the planning phase of your project is now, while the world is waiting for the ships to come in (truly).

Planning provides the roadmap for your project. When you have made important decisions in advance, what follows is a much smoother process. Given the uncertainties of today’s supply chain, this planning step is even more important. The following are among the many issues you’ll need to address:

• Identify what you want to achieve:
• Increase production by 25%?
• Introduce an automated process?
• Reconfigure your space?
• Make room for a phased expansion?
• Set a timeframe. Ideally, when would you like to have your project completed?
• Look beyond tomorrow.
• Are your goals realistic if labor remains scarce long-term?
• What steps can you take to prepare for a future without the same level of hands-on labor you had before the pandemic?

Get Real

Take stock of your internal resources and expertise. Ask and answer these questions:

• Do you have an internal engineering team that can lead your project?
• If so, are these individuals aware of the materials and processes required to maintain a safe and sanitary food facility?
• Can they handle the design of the intricate systems necessary to operate the equipment you need?
• Do they understand what it takes to meet today’s regulatory requirements?
• Can you afford an interruption in your operation as you take on a construction project? If not, do you have the knowledge and time to manage a construction project while managing your day-to-day operations?
• Do you have access to a design/build team with extensive experience building food processing facilities? Note: Constructing a food processing facility is NOT the same as building a restaurant or a warehouse, so don’t be fooled by a local contractor into believing these are similarly complex.
• Do you have a budget in mind? While the cost of goods and services may vary with the economic outlook, your budget is your budget. Know what you can spend.

Proceed to Plan

After you’ve done the above, it’s time to get down to the nitty gritty. If you can tackle your entire project internally, dig into that planning now. If you need help with process planning, master planning, site planning or facility planning, reach out to an experienced design firm to gauge if your expectations and resources are realistic. You can contact us here.

Regardless of the path you choose, having a plan puts you at the front of the line when the supply chain congestion eases. You’ll be ready to install that line, receive that equipment, initiate that automated process, or even break ground on that new building, so you can move forward to meet or exceed your production goals. 

Food Raw Material Receiving and Storage

The Amherst facility assembles fresh and frozen sandwiches, burritos, and wraps for wholesale and retail sale. In 2019, Tyson needed help renovating this facility while maintaining operations. Tyson came to Food Plant Engineering asking for help with plans to add eight new packaging lines, reallocate dry ingredients space for conversion to an ingredient unboxing room, increase the size of the gowning room, relocate the trash dock, relocate vacuum pumps for the packaging lines, and modify a finished goods freezer to increase ingredient storage. The engineering staff at Tyson developed the initial concepts for this expansion but needed assistance in working out details and implementing plans.

To prepare for renovation, Tyson needed immediate assistance in evaluating storage options for packaging materials and dry ingredients. Food Plant Engineering worked with Tyson to develop a racking plan that would maximize floor space for ingredient tempering while still having enough racked pallet spaces for corrugate and labels. Once the space was cleared, the unboxing and gowning rooms were constructed. During this process, temporary walls were utilized to uphold food safety standards in the production spaces. Short shutdowns were planned to install the production and packaging lines and relocate supporting production equipment.

Packaging, Cold Storage, and Shipping

As a result of the increased production, part of the freezer was modified to accommodate more ingredient storage. This modification involved altering the pallet racking and constructing a wall to separate ingredients from finished goods. This change in material flow also required a change in the location of the trash dock. When evaluating the plan for the trash dock relocation, it was important to ensure corrugate waste would not pass through an area with exposed product. In addition, the exterior space for the dock needs to be in a location where the waste-hauling trucks can access the trash dock without interfering with the semi-truck traffic at the shipping docks. Food Plant Engineering devised a plan that both optimizes placement of the trash dock without interfering with shipping traffic and allows for plans for a future freezer and dock addition.