Neil Walker
Technical and Cereal Sales Manager
Satake Europe
With more than a century of innovation behind it, Satake continues to redefine rice processing. Its latest breakthrough—the Spiral Whitener (SSW)—delivers cooler grain, lower energy use, and superior milling quality, while offering cross-over benefits for wheat, barley, peas, and beans. Alongside new tools like the In-line Flowmeter, Satake shows how smart technology is shaping the future of grain processing worldwide.
Founded in 1896, Satake, with its long history in rice processing is a well-respected global company involved in the design and implementation of milling solutions for all cereal and non-cereal applications.
In addition to the head office, based in Japan, and home to very extensive R&D facilities there are several group companies involved in manufacture and worldwide customer support. Satake continues to play a leading role in rice processing and constantly strives to improve its equipment portfolio for the benefit of customers, consumers and the environment.
In a world where companies strive to offer efficiently manufactured quality products for an ever more environmentally conscious consumer it is vital that companies like Satake continue to undertake R&D into equipment and processing, that supports this aim.
RE-ENGINEERING A PROVEN TECHNOLOGY
The latest equipment from Satake includes improved rice whitening via the SSW (Satake Spiral Whitener) which takes the well proven technology from previous whiteners and re-engineers the machine to change the material presentation and flow, bringing the significant benefits of improved product quality, cooler product (stocks) and potential reductions in power and air usage to both customers and consumers alike.
With its on-board PLC, the SSW can also automatically change the resistance bar position dependent upon the actual % full load current, in this way a constant whitening action is achieved regardless of minor fluctuations in product flow.
The SSW is available to suit a range of capacities. As with the previous range of machinery, there are many cross-over benefits enabling this machine to bring the same advantages to other cereals such as wheat (debranning) and barley and applications involving peas and beans.
The SSW series of rice milling machines utilize Satake’s state-of-the-art abrasive-type milling which delivers improved results over the VTA series. VTA series rice milling machines have served global customers for many decades, selling hundreds of units annually. The new SSW series should also prove to be a game-changer. The VTA series’ milling chamber utilizes an external resistance system, while the SSW’s employs an internal resistance system that ensures pressure is evenly distributed throughout the chamber.
The SSW milling method reduces the occurrence of broken rice while maintaining a lower grain temperature, resulting in an overall higher quality mill. Additionally, the method requires less power, improving profit margins for customers.
FEATURES
Lower Grain Temperature: The SSW minimizes rise in grain temperature compared to previous models.
Cost Reduction: Utilizing less power than its predecessors, milling with the SSW can add up to substantial savings.
Improved Milling Quality: The SSW ensures the production of the highest quality rice with minimal breakage.
MONITORING FLOW AT EVERY STAGE
Processing efficiency can often be confirmed not only by the output from process weighers, but also from knowledge of what is happening at other strategic parts of the mill. An increase or decrease in stock flow at a certain part of the mill may give an early indication that a corrective action is needed to prevent a potential quality or efficiency problem from becoming an actual problem.
The In-Line Flowmeter has been developed to provide a very cost effective and easily fitted flow monitoring device that enables product flows to be monitored at strategic parts of the mill.
With its low headroom and simple action, it can be easily inserted into a mill flow and used to provide valuable information relating to stock quantity.
As equipment technology continues to develop, the In-line Flowmeter can be used as a tool to provide information not only to the operator, but to a corrective device for automatic compensation of the error in a closed loop, requiring little, if any, human input.
Satake strives for continual improvement in all cereal and non-cereal applications; these are just two of the latest innovations to help our customers improve their quality and processing efficiency.