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A cracked homogenizer pump block means expensive repairs and even more expensive downtime. While most manufacturers don’t even have a five-year warranty, Tetra Pak offers customers a full ten years’ peace of mind.
IT IS within the pump block that the pressure required for homogenization is built up. But fatigue stress combined with pulsations caused by a malfunction in the line can lead to cracks in this solid piece of stainless steel.
“A crack is a major issue that requires a new pump block – and a new pump block is quite expensive,” says Nicole Uvenbeck, Line Product Manager at Tetra Pak. “And then consider that a pump block is not the kind of spare part you have on the shelf, and therefore the downtime you get while waiting for a new pump block to arrive might be costly.”
Tetra Pak is alone in the industry in offering customers a ten-year warranty against cracks in the pump block. The warranty is possible due to the extensive calculations and simulation that have been done to optimize the design of the pump block, in combination with an extra-durable stainless steel that is special treated to further improve resistance to fatigue stress.
In the unlikely event that a crack does appear, the customer will get a new pump block – and a new ten-year warranty. “But to be honest we don’t hear about cracks from our customers at all, and we are very proud of that,” says Uvenbeck. “Some manufacturers in the market offer a five-year warranty, but we are so confident in our equipment that we are happy to offer our customers ten years.”
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Homogenization is used to achieve a variety of different results: to prevent a cream line and sedimentation in milk products; to improve the viscosity, taste and texture of cream or juice-based drinks, to improve the mouth feel of soy beverages, and to prevent the separation of the whey in yoghurt.