RKV
GREEN COFFEE PREHEATING

With exhaust temperatures that can reach between 320 and 860 °C, depending on the exhaust air treatment unit used, a lot of energy escapes unutilized via the chimney. PROBAT identified the problem early on. The goal was to use waste heat wisely and save energy costs at the same time. Thus the PROBAT specialists developed the RKV green coffee preheating system. It reuses excess energy directly in the roasting process, which is significantly reducing energy consumption and shortening roasting cycles. It is connected upstream of the roaster and requires no additional heating energy.

Usually, the green coffee is filled into the roasting bin after heating up the roasting machine. In the process, the coffee beans absorb the heating energy, which leads to a rapid drop in temperature in the roaster. The coffee has to be heated up again to a certain temperature level with high energy input in order to achieve drying. This is different with green coffee preheating as the drying process has already taken place in the preheating chamber. To this end, the RKV uses part of the cleaned exhaust air to heat the green coffee to a temperature of approx. 100 °C. Mechanical mixing ensures uniform heat transfer to the beans. Once the desired temperature has been reached, the preheated coffee beans are filled into the roasting bin. This reduces the time between filling in and the beginning of browning reactions and aroma formation. This way, the average energy efficiency and processing performance of the roasting system are increased by up to 20%.

If you want to learn more about the innovative environmental technologies of PROBAT, book your personal one-to-one online meeting with one of our experts now.