Industrial Coffee Roasting

A first-class raw material consumed by 30% of the world’s population every single day in the form of a cup of coffee, is a product that requires attention to both production efficiency and social responsibility. According to the International Coffee Organization, coffee consumption is increasing by 1.3% per year, and in 2016, a coffee consumption of 9 million tonnes of coffee was registered worldwide.

Mechanical Chimney Draught / Regulation of Chimney Draught from Roasters

The industrial process of roasting coffee beans takes place mainly in one of three ways. By direct contact, with hot air, or through radiation. Coffee roasters operate in the temperature range of 370°C to 540°C, so the energy consumption is significant.

Although gases from the roasting are used and recycled in the process itself, most of the heat is lost and discharged through the chimney to the outside. According to one report, up to 75% of the heat put into the roasting ovens is lost through the piping and the chimney. This is where exodraft’s mechanical exhaust fan technology / chimney draught can be applied.

The entire roasting process is fine-tuned by regulating the chimney draught. Proper draught guarantees an efficient combustion. Using mechanical exhaust fan technology / chimney draught, you can optimise even for small pressure differences, and secure the process against counterproductive temperature and wind conditions.

The exodraft product range offers advanced and proven technology that gives you full control.

Heat Recovery from Roasters

Roasting coffee beans requires a lot of heat, which is often lost building up draught or through leaks. The old well-known solutions, such as cyclones and afterburners, can to some extent reduce heat loss or recycle a small part of the residual heat.

However, these effects do not match the latest technology, led by exodraft’s heat recovery and exhaust fan technology / chimney draught. 90% of waste heat from flue gases can be recovered and heat from other processes such as cooling of the roasted beans can be used to dry the green beans before entering the roasting hopper.

In addition, the heat can be used in absorption coolers where the roasted beans are cooled. With exodraft’s heat recovery systems, the process heat is recovered and stored in a buffer tank for later use when and if the need arises.

The recovered heat does not necessarily have to be used in the roasting process. It can, very advantageously, be used for a wealth of heating and cooling tasks throughout the facility. For cleaning, bathing and utility water, heating offices / warehouses / factories just to name a few possibilities.

If no obvious applications within the factory are available, resale of the recovered heat to local central heating plants can be a profitable alternative.

Our team of experts can analyze and calculate the value of the recovered heat and opportunities for energy optimization in the coffee roasting industry.

exodraft’s technologies directly benefit the coffee roasting industry by reducing energy costs and maximizing profits. Furthermore, CO₂ emissions from the coffee industry can be significantly reduced and even negated in several cases, making coffee roasting a sustainable process.

The incorporation of exodraft’s technologies in industries is handled by exodraft’s own experts and is always adapted to the specific needs of the individual company.