Hosokawa Alpine presents innovative technologies and solutions in its anniversary year

Updated on : 11/08/2023 - New AMB spiral jet mill and future-proof applications

Hosokawa Alpine has stood for innovation in the field of powder processing and size reduction for 125 years. The company is now presenting various innovations in its anniversary year. These include the Microburst AMB jet mill. The Augsburg-based machine and systems manufacturer has also developed solutions for future-proof applications – including the industrial use of the natural raw material lignin and the development of alternative protein sources.

Alpine Microburst AMB: Ultra-fine grinding of coarse and fibrous materials without pre-crushing

With the new Alpine Microburst AMB spiral jet mill, coarser products can also be fed in without pre-crushing. Even fibrous products, which previously could hardly be ground or only with great effort, can now be finely ground with the AMB. That means Hosokawa Alpine is now presenting its customers with a valuable addition alongside its AS spiral jet mill and the AFG fluidised bed opposed jet mill. While the AFG is an ideal solution for a steep particle size distribution, the AMB offers a compact solution with lower investment costs and a simple process.

New opportunities for a range of future industries

"With our AMB spiral jet mill, manufacturers of functional food or finely ground food products, for example, will have access to an optimised solution in the future," says Jürgen Zeller, Sales Manager Food Division at Hosokawa Alpine. Scientific studies have shown that fine grinding in the production of functional food leads to better extractability, solubility, mouthfeel and bioactivity. "Ultimately, it can be used wherever a production process has been limited in the past by the injector size of conventional spiral jet mills", further explains Zeller. The spiral jet mill also opens up completely new possibilities for processors of cannabis, fibrous products, cellulose or PLA/PLGA biopolymers.

The new AMB spiral jet mill from Hosokawa Alpine not only offers customised production systems for challenging customer requirements, but also comes in a standardised baseline variant. This can be used independently and facilitates semi-automated and economical production.

The new spiral jet mill Alpine Microburst (AMB) is impressive due to a range of advantages including its modular machine design.

Future Foods: Solutions for tapping into future protein sources

The precision process with the ZPS classifier mill shows off its strengths particularly when high protein values and yields are to be achieved.

In order to secure food for the growing world population and to develop alternative sources of protein, Hosokawa Alpine and the entire Hosokawa Micron Group has developed various solutions. This includes the process of protein dry fractionation: Here, in the case of plant-based foods such as peas, lentils or other pulses, fractions with a significantly higher protein content than the starting material are produced through ultra-fine grinding and subsequent classifying. These protein- and starch-rich special flours are then used as the basis for vegan burger patties, lupin cutlets and many other plant-based foods. Insects or residues from the processing of meat or fish, vegetables or fruit peels can also be processed with the technologies of the Hosokawa Micron Group and made usable for human nutrition.

Lignin: Making the renewable raw material suitable for industrial use

Lignin is a component of wood and is a by-product of the production of paper or bioethanol. The renewable raw material is suitable for a wide range of industrial applications – from carbon fibres to carbon black substitutes for rubber and cosmetics. Here, Hosokawa Alpine has developed a process to increase the value of this natural raw material via compacting, grinding or classifying and therefore to open up new markets. The Alpine Microburst AMB jet mill can also be used for lignin and future foods – especially in the laboratory.

With the ARC-MS compactor from Hosokawa Alpine, lignin powder can be processed into dust-free granules or briquettes with a consistent and very high product quality.

Explore more:Alpine Microburst AMB | Protein shifting (dry fractionation) | Lignin