Key Technology’s wet spinach sorting system

Key Technology has introduced its wet spinach sorting system for frozen and canned spinach processing lines. The system includes an Iso-Flo dewatering shaker, Flo-Belt and Manta sorter with laser technology and top and bottom cameras to inspect wet spinach after washing.

The company claims the system maximises the removal of foreign material (FM) and leaf defects and improves product quality and food safety when compared with sorting before washing.

After washing, the clean product is fed to a dewatering conveyor that removes most of the water and spreads leaves. The conveyor feeds leaves to the Flo-Belt, where fast-moving air elevates and separates the leaves, reducing surface water and clumps while removing heavy FM and spreading product to feed to the sorter. It is claimed that these two parts of the system remove up to 96% of water from the leaves.

The leaves are inspected on the sorter by fluorescence-sensing lasers and visible infrared cameras. The company claims that combining cameras and lasers on one platform maximises the sorter’s capacity to remove unwanted objects and two-sided viewing finds FM hiding under leaves. Air jets pinpoint FM and substandard leaves to remove them from the acceptable product stream.

The system sorts up to 5000 kg of finished product per hour but can be designed for lower volume lines. The system can also be adjusted to handle products other than spinach.

The easy-to-use graphical user interface is built to withstand harsh environments and high-pressure washdowns.