Jacob (UK) gets the taste for chocolate

17 January 2011 – JACOB (UK) has supplied an extensive stainless steel modular pipework ducting system for the Cadbury factory at Marlbook, designed and installed by Jex Engineering to assist in the production of chocolate crumb the main ingredient in many of Cadbury’s milk chocolate products.

Cocoa liquor is mixed with fresh full cream milk, which has been evaporated, condensed and sterilised before sugar is added to form a thick liquid in the chocolate crumb making plant. The plant operates at up to 90 degrees centigrade and heated air is fed to the drying tower using 300mm diameter JACOB (UK) modular ducting manufactured in stainless steel and clad with insulation material to conserve heat and protect employees from accidental contact with the hot ducting. The plant uses hot air to extract moisture from the ingredients as part of the process to produce chocolate crumb. JACOB (UK) modular stainless steel ducting is again used on the extraction side of the plant to feed the used air through a filtration system to remove particles and remove the exhaust air via a noise attenuator to the atmosphere. The 400mm diameter ducting has a manually adjusted throttle valve on the exit from the filter to balance the airflow across the system.

Cadbury’s Len Eades explains, "By using modular stainless steel pipework supplied byJacob, we are able to quickly disassemble the ducting when the plant is due for cleaning or routine maintenance, saving considerable time and cost."

The factory at Marlbrook has 11 chocolate crumb manufacturing lines which together process 180 million litres of fresh milk, 56,000 tonnes of sugar and 13,000 tonnes of coco liquor each year. The fully automated plant runs 24 hours per day, 365 days per year. On a scheduled basis, one chocolate crumb manufacturing machine is taken out of service for routine maintenance and a deep clean. This is where using JACOB (UK) modular stainless steel ducting has real advantages for Cadbury.