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Bell-Carter Olive is a very long established northern California firm that processes olives. The pitted olives are sold in whole, sliced and diced forms. The firm uses Vincent screw presses in two applications.
The sanitary application is part of the process of producing diced olives. After dicing, the olives are flumed (transported in a water stream) from various locations in the plant. A model VP-12 press, all stainless, is used to separate the water without crushing the product.
It is noteworthy that a Vincent Series KP press has been used in a nearly identical application, involving separating water from diced green chili peppers after they are flumed to a desired location.
The second press at Bell-Carter, a VP-16, is in the wastewater treatment plant. It is used to separate solid particles of olive from the waste stream. Once again, the trick is to separate and dewater the olives without pressing them so hard as to emulsify them into the press liquor. The sludgy mass of press cake is sent to landfill.
Both presses use the rotating cone option. This is key to the soft pressing of a slippery material that would otherwise channel out of the cake discharge of the press.
Today we would recommend the Series KP “soft squeeze” presses for these applications. The recent incorporation of a rotary cone feature in these presses has expanded their market potential.
Issue 160