【Success Case】Algerian Customer Orders Grape Cleaning and Drying Production Line

In January 2024, our company successfully delivered a high-efficiency grape washing and drying production line to an Algerian client, addressing issues of inadequate cleaning and low drying efficiency in grape processing.
 

Customer Background and Challenges

Algeria is an important grape producing country in North Africa, and its grape processing industry, such as wine and raisin production, faces many challenges. Our client is a local medium-sized food processing enterprise, mainly engaged in grape cleaning, air drying, and packaging. Prior to cooperation, the client encountered the following key issues:
 
Incomplete Cleaning: Traditional cleaning equipment cannot effectively remove impurities, pesticide residues, and microorganisms on the surface of grapes, resulting in substandard product hygiene and affecting export quality.
 
Fruits Are Fragile: The grape skins are thin and the flesh is soft, and traditional machinery is prone to causing damage.
 
Low Drying Efficiency: Manual or outdated drying equipment takes a long time and consumes a lot of energy, resulting in extended production cycles, increased costs, and potential damage to the grapes.
 
Capacity Bottleneck: As market demand grows, the existing production line cannot meet the large-scale processing requirements. Customers urgently need an automated solution to increase production. Solution:
 

Solution

In response to customer demands, our technical team, in combination with the characteristics of local grape varieties in Algeria such as the thickness of the grape skins and sugar content, has provided an integrated solution of "three-stage cleaning + low-temperature air-drying". The core configuration includes:
 

1.Intelligent Sorting and Pre-Cleaning Module

· Vibration Screening Machine: Through 6-level aperture screening, it automatically separates rotten fruits, branches and leaves, and stones. The sorting efficiency reaches 99.5%, reducing the subsequent cleaning load;
· Bubble Surfacing Cleaning Machine: It adopts 360° rotating spray + ozone sterilization (concentration 0.3mg/L), with water temperature controlled at 25℃ ± 2℃. This avoids the damage of grape skin wax layer caused by high temperature, and kills more than 90% of Escherichia coli and yeast on the surface.
 

2. Deep Cleaning and Disinfection Module

· Ultrasonic cleaning tank: With 28kHz high-frequency vibration, it can remove tiny dust and dirt on the fruit surface (such as pesticide residues and soil colloids), and combined with food-grade H2O2 disinfectant (concentration 0.05%), it can achieve microbial residue < 10CFU/g, meeting the EU requirement of "zero detection of pathogenic bacteria";
· Brush roller soft cleaning unit: Imported nylon brushes (diameter 0.2mm) imitate manual gentle brushing, with adjustable pressure (0.3-0.5MPa), ensuring no damage to the fruit skin and solving the problem of juice loss caused by traditional hard brushes.
 

3. Low-temperature High-efficiency Air Drying Module

· Multi-layer belt-type air-drying machine: Utilizes 85℃ hot air circulation (temperature can be adjusted continuously via PLC), with a wind speed of 12m/s. Combined with the inclined belt design, it enables uniform air-drying of grapes during the flipping process and avoids nutrient loss caused by ultraviolet rays;
· Waste heat recovery system: Recovers heat from exhaust gases through heat exchangers, achieving an energy-saving rate of 25% and reducing the long-term operating costs for customers.
 

4. Intelligent Control System

Touchscreen human-machine interface: Real-time display of parameters for each stage (such as cleaning time, drying temperature, production statistics), supporting one-click operation and remote monitoring, reducing manual intervention. Modular design allows customers to easily expand production capacity in the future and adapt to business growth.
 

Implementation effect

After the equipment delivery in April 2024, after 10 days of installation, debugging, and personnel training, the production line was officially put into operation. Customer feedback showed that the core indicators exceeded expectations comprehensively
 
Efficiency Improvement: The single shift production capacity has been increased from 10 tons to 20 tons, and labor costs have been reduced by 60% (originally requiring 8 people per shift, now only 3 people are needed for monitoring equipment);
 
Quality Standard: impurity rate after cleaning is 0.08%, moisture content after air drying is 4.2%, and all hygiene indicators meet EU standards;
 
Cost Optimization: Energy consumption reduced by 22% (saving approximately $12000 in annual electricity bills), equipment investment payback period is expected to be 6 months, which is 4 months shorter than the customer's original expectation.
 
The customer's production director commented in the acceptance report: "This production line not only resolved our compliance issues, but also transformed our grape processing from 'dependent on weather conditions' to 'stable production throughout the year'. Now, even during the rainy season, we can ensure a daily raw material processing volume of 20 tons."
 

Why Choose Union Machinery?

· Expert Team: End-to-end engineering support from design to commissioning.
· Global Expertise: 11+ years in food machinery, serving 50+ countries.
· Certifications: ISO9001 and CE compliant.
· Custom Solutions: Full-service support, including plant layout optimization.
· Support: 24/7 technical assistance, spare parts availability, 1-year warranty.

Conclusion: From "Single Equipment Supplier" to "Global Processing Solution Partner"

This cooperation not only reflects the technical strength of Union Machinery, but also confirms our service philosophy of "customer pain points oriented". Whether you are facing challenges such as capacity upgrading, compliance certification, cost control, or special material processing, we can provide a full cycle service from "requirement analysis - solution design - installation and commissioning - after-sales support".
 
Contact us immediately to obtain your exclusive food processing solution, making the equipment your "passport" to explore the international market!
 
Union Machinery， A global leader in food packaging, committed to enhancing customer competitiveness through innovative machinery. Complete export certification and 100% on-time project delivery rate.
 
Union Machinery —— Make every grape a quality brand!