In 2020, Tönnies Rind reopened its site in Badbergen after extensive remodelling and renovations. Vacuum pumps from Atlas Copco were also installed, as the animal cuts are vacuum-packed in thermoforming and shrink-wrapping machines.
What used to be a mixed abattoir has now become a „cattle competence centre“: For decades, other companies slaughtered and cut up cattle and pigs at the same time in Badbergen. The Tönnies Group took over the site in 2017 and reopened it in 2020 after extensive remodelling and renovation. The Group invested around 85 million euros in the building and in the latest technologiesThe slaughtering, cutting and finishing process is based on state-of-the-art cooling technology, machine-assisted cutting and highly automated picking and dispatch lines.
The cuts are vacuum-packed for the various major customers. For this purpose, Tönnies has several packaging lines installed: seven thermoforming roll-fed machines and two robot-operated shrink bag packaging machines. In order to vacuum seal the tubular or shrink bags and thermoformed plastic trays and thus preserve the meat, the systems are operated by efficient vacuum pumps from Atlas Copco supplied. They work in two stations and supply mould, rough and fine vacuum.
The thermoforming machines are supplied by vacuum station 1. There are Four speed-controlled, oil-injected screw vacuum pumps of type GHS 585 VSD+, which vacuum the air down to 40 mbar (absolute), as well as four small boosters that reduce the pressure even further to 3 mbar. One of the screw pumps supplies the forming vacuum for the thermoforming roller machines, which only require around 100 to 150 mbar for the forming process.
The other vacuum pumps in this station are connected to the boosters. One of each is alternately redundant, just like in the second vacuum station, which comprises five GHS 730 VSD+. These remove the air from the shrink bags on the Cryovac lines.
„The size of the meat cuts is automatically recognised by our systems,“ explains Waldemar Metzger, Technical Manager. „The packaging machines then also automatically feed the cuts into the tubular bags, which are cut to the correct size under a vacuum bell.“ Under the bonnet, any ambient air is then evacuated in two stages down to around 3 mbar (fine vacuum).
After filling the tray with smaller pieces of meat, the „marriage“ with the cover film follows: the mould closes and, with the help of the fine vacuum, the packaging is sealed airtight at 3 to 5 mbar. Automatic sorting machines allocate the individual trays and tubular bags to larger crates, which are then picked into individual boxes for the respective orders according to customer specifications.
As the Atlas Copco pumps connected directly to an exhaust air system It was possible to utilise air-cooled pumps. According to the manufacturer, this improves the room climate; additional cooling of the room, which is often required in centralised vacuum systems, is no longer necessary.
The project was realised on site by and with Oliver Hornberg, branch manager of Eugen Theis Vakuumtechnik in Werther. He supplied the pumps and handed over the turnkey vacuum stations to Tönnies Rind.
Source: Atlas Copco
