Rotoshear Internally Fed Rotating Drum Screen - Claxton Poultry
Challenge
Claxton Poultry, a major poultry processor, located in Claxton, Georgia, uses every part of the bird in its various processes. It even operates its own rendering facility adjacent to the kill plant. To maximize by-product recovery, Claxton has a separate line dedicated to screening primary offal. Originally, a perforated drum screen was installed to remove the offal from the wastewater stream. This screen not only had to handle heavy, greasy solids loadings, but frequent surges, as high as 1200 GPM during washdown.
To compound the problem, the greasy offal stuck to the screen, caught in the perforations and caused the screen to blind. The screen required constant attention and was extremely labor intensive. The line had to be shut down to wash the screen and unclog the perforations. Labor was also required to mop up the overflow. Maintenance was only one part of the problem. Offal, captured on the screen, was wet, with substantial amounts of water that required extra cooking time and energy during rendering.
Solution
Claxton replaced its perforated screen with a heavy-duty Rotoshear® unit, Model HRS60120 x .100" (25.4 mm). Immediately, the overflow stopped. The Rotoshear® screen is an automatic rotary wedgewire screen designed to handle greasy, stringy solids without blinding. The screen is engineered to meet the requirements of each application.
Results
The Rotoshear® screen operated efficiently and was virtually maintenance-free. There was no screen blinding, no overflow and no messy cleanup. In addition, the screened offal contained less moisture and became a more valuable, easier to use by-product for the plant’s rendering operation. Had Claxton Poultry utilized the services of an outside renderer, they would have found that the price paid for drier offal increased and that freight costs decreased since trucks were no longer hauling excessive water.