EVALUATION AND IMPROVEMENT OF THE DURABILITY OF CANNING MACHINERY FOR LONG-TERM PRESERVATION OF PRODUCTS

Abstract

To ensure the high quality of the canning process, having reliable equipment, including canning machines, is critically important to avoid potential negative consequences. However, existing designs of working elements and the materials they are made of limit productivity improvement due to their limited service life. Wear of working elements such as sealing rollers, supporting plates, and canning chucks leads to a decrease in the quality of the manufactured products, downtime, and increased equipment maintenance costs. During the research of canning machinery operation at food processing enterprises, we conducted an analysis and identified the main factors contributing to the most pronounced wear of working rollers and other components of the canning mechanism. As a result of our studies, it was determined that the most significant impact on the service life of working elements is exerted by the corrosive-aggressive environment of the food industry. As for canning rollers, wear in the form of increased width and depth of working grooves, as well as an increase in surface roughness, is characteristic. With the use of modern technical means, we have identified an optimal methodology for evaluating the degree of wear of the working surface of canning rollers. Canning rollers typically undergo fatigue wear, which is the result of abrasive and oxidative effects of the food environment. We analyzed various methods to enhance wear resistance and concluded that the most common methods to increase service life include: 1. Restoring the profile through grinding. 2. Restoring the profile through welding and subsequent grinding. 3. Strengthening the profile through spraying. 4. Using stronger materials.