In agricultural processing, conveying rice efficiently and gently is crucial to maintaining its quality from farm to table. This comprehensive guide explores the most effective conveyor technologies designed to handle this staple food delicately, ensuring its integrity for consumers worldwide. Whether it is raw or parboiled rice, selecting the right conveyor system is essential for producers and manufacturers aiming for optimal productivity and minimal product degradation.
Conveying Rice – Discover the Optimal Conveyor Belt Solutions
Rice is a versatile product and is eaten around the world. Often conveyed in raw form but it can also be conveyed parboiled for applications such as dog food. It is a fragile material that can suffer from product degradation when conveyed incorrectly. This being said, let’s discuss which industrial conveyor systems are best for conveying rice.
Flexible Screw Conveyors – A Versatile Conveyor Belt System
The flexible screw conveyor uses a long metal spiral inside a plastic tube to move the product along and up the tube. It is perfect for conveying through walls, up at an angle, and even around corners. This flexible screw conveyor is perfect for conveying rice when it is parboiled and already premixed as it will maintain a continuous blend. The spiral constantly remixes the product as it conveys so the rice will stay evenly spaced throughout your mixture.
However, it is not the most gentle conveying system and while it is great for moving uncooked rice or mixtures, it may damage a product like parboiled rice on its own. Learn more about it and read our case study on how a flexible screw conveyor moves rice to a packing machine.
Aeromechanical Conveyors – High-Speed, Gentle Conveying
This conveyor operates with evenly spaced polyurethane discs attached by a cable and travels at high speeds to create an air stream that will convey rice along the tubes. This is an efficient way of transporting a fragile product like rice as it is a gentle conveyor that also offers total containment-free so any dust created by the rice will be contained within the conveying system.
The aero-mechanical conveyor is ideal for transporting food products because it is made of stainless steel and is extremely easy to clean. This will reduce cross-contamination if you need to change batches. Spiroflow is one of the top-notch belt conveyor manufacturers on the market, with many years of experience. Check out our case study on how we installed an aero-mechanical conveyor to move rice and dried peas.
Tubular Drag With a Cable and Disc – The Epitome of Gentle Conveying
The tubular drag conveyor is possibly the best method of conveying a fragile product such as rice, parboiled rice, rice mixes, and specialty rice as it is the most gentle conveyor. It operates similarly to the Aero Mechanical conveyor however no air flow is produced, and the cable and discs simply drag the rice along the tube. It is a hygienic conveying system which makes it ideal for conveying food products such as rice and particularly parboiled rice.
It is a standout product for anyone conveying rice that faces cross-contamination issues from changed batches as the system can self-clean. This conveyor system also comes with our patented DART or dynamic automatic rope tensioner which can extend the cable life which will reduce breakdowns of the machine and save you money.
Tailored Conveyor Belt Systems for Every Rice Application With Spiroflow
Several types of mechanical conveyors are suitable for conveying rice and as always it will depend on your specific rice application. Whether it is conveying raw grains for cooking, a mix of products containing rice, or parboiled rice ready for packing we can advise on which conveyor is most suitable for you. We have the broadest conveyor range in our industry so we can be truly objective on which conveyor is best for your application – we won’t just sell you a cable drag conveyor because that is all we sell!As the demand for rice increases worldwide you will need the best system in terms of efficiency and cleanliness and Spiroflow, one of the leading conveyor systems manufacturers, has the expertise to advise you on what will work best. If you are looking to convey rice then get in touch with us today.
