It must be easy right? You won’t think twice about the pump that was supplied by your Enrober machine, conche supplier, or ball mill supplier, right?
Well, you won’t think now, but you surely will, sometime, in the future. Probably sooner than later.
You see, contrary to popular belief (which includes the smart, industry people), gravity alone will not do the work for you if the product is anymore viscous than water. Even in the case of water, imagine, if you will, a tank full at a great height, will simply not push water at a greater height, without the use of some external force. Things get tricky when the medium through which you are transporting the water has got restrictions, like let’s say, a small pipe diameter or a rough internal surface.
Now, picture the flow of chocolate and compare it with the flow of water.
What do you think? In which case the energy required, and the parameters of the system are more tricky? Take your time.
Viscosity can trick you.
As written in a previous article, The importance of viscosity in chocolates, chocolate is viscous, which means there is an inherent fiction between its own layers. Now couple that with the friction it would face when travelling it through a pipe, may be the best quality of pipe, but it still does. Add to that then the gravity. Imagine picking up a 100 kg or 220-pound block of chocolate. You feel the weight, don’t you?
To push around chocolate through all the machines and grinders and filling stations, pipes are required. And to push the chocolate inside the pipes, pumps are required. It’s not just a small part of your whole manufacturing setup, it’s an integral and a crucial one. Mess it up there and all the stations would dry up, literally, with chocolate.
So what to do? How to optimise your pumping stations that you are not always tending to the leakages and seizes and clog ups? Well, here are my 2 cents.
Sizing up your Pipes
The first recommendation would be the pipe sizing. Many a times we have seen that the chocolate manufacturer buys the best quality of machines that are available in the world but rub their hands when it comes to general piping. Please remember, as the diameter of pipe increases, there is less load on the pump to push around the chocolate. I know there is an argument that a higher size piping could increase the inventory loss, during shutdowns. But hey my friend, you must optimise. Find that sweet point where the loss is minimal, and the performance of your pump is optimal.
Pump up
The second recommendation would be the type of pump. Use a positive displacement pump for engineering’s sake, sir. Their whole existence on this planet earth is to push exactly this kind of product, which here is chocolate. Positive displacement pumps transfer the product without creating any pressure and require a lot less power to operate. Use a lobe pump or an internal gear pump which are best suggested for use in chocolate.
Slow should be the flow
The third recommendation would be the speed of the pumps at which they are running. Keep it slow my friend. The higher the speed, the higher the chances that your chocolate will go to waste and burn. As mentioned in an earlier article chocolate is basically comprised of sugar and cocoa particles coated with fat. A higher speed guarantees a higher temperature, which will burn the sugar and caramelize it. The fat in the cocoa particle will separate, dramatically increasing the viscosity and the pump will get jammed and you can imagine the rest.
Keep it warm, my friend
The fourth recommendation would be to keep the temperature steady at all places where the chocolate flows. It would mean jacketing your pumps, the pipes, all the bends and valves and anything in between. Depending upon the type of chocolate you are using, dark or milk, the temperature of the whole system can be set. Please also ensure that before starting the daily production schedule after a shutdown or before daily startup, please run the heating system at least 45 minutes to 1 hour before the chocolate is passed through. This would help stop in sudden temperature drops across the line, which can also result in your chocolate going out of temper, resulting in low quality chocolate end products.
No Moisture suggested
The fifth recommendation would be to ensure that there is no water contamination in the chocolate at any place in the chocolate pumping system. This includes the pumps, pipes, and everything. A leaky lobe pump with a double mechanical seal can easily jam your pump. One of our case studies in the past where the chocolate was seizing in the pipes was due to the reason that the poor welding joints of the chocolate carrying pipes were allowing hot water from the jacket into the chocolate, thereby ruining the whole process. If not attended at the time of fabrication of pipes, this becomes exponentially harder to find and eliminate.
Read that flyer
The sixth recommendation would be to please read your pump manual. If you have not got your manual, please ask from your supplier. Do not try to guess what micron sizes of particles your pump can handle or change the sealing design. Just go through the manual or ask from your supplier.
I hope this article has helped you in understanding how to handle your chocolate pumping operations a bit better.
Please, use high quality pumps.
Your chocolate will thank you.
Chocolate is a non-Newtonian fluid that punishes the wrong pump choice. Use this technical audit checklist to evaluate your current fluid-handling setup.
Download the free Technical Audit Checklist.
Book an Industrial Technical Discovery Session:- If you are facing recurring seal leaks, pump-head wear, or inconsistent flow rates that are affecting your tempering or enrobing accuracy, your fluid dynamics are flawed. In chocolate manufacturing, a pump isn’t just a mover—it’s a shear-generator that can either stabilize your temper or destroy it.
Let’s skip the trial-and-error. We will help you identify your pumping efficiency, and pressure-drop calculations in a 1-on-1 discovery session to ensure your line never stops.