Synergy in Action
GEA and Fuji Brandenburg's collaborative success story
The expertise of scientists and process developers at Fuji Oil Group, combined with the technology and engineering knowhow of GEA liquid and powder specialists, has been instrumental in the design and construction of Fuji Brandenburg, a state-of-the-art facility for manufacturing high quality, functional soluble pea fiber.
Manufacturing soluble pea fiber
Fuji Oil Group is a leading supplier of plant-based ingredients, and an established producer of soluble soy polysaccharide ingredients for Asian, and more recently EU markets. The Fuji Brandenburg facility, located in Golßen, Germany, was conceived and built as part of the group’s drive to expand and diversify into new areas of sustainable processing for plant-derived products, and generate business in key European markets. The soluble pea fiber produced at the site is marketed as a valuable ingredient for the food and beverage industry.
State-of-the-Art facility
As a manufacturing facility for soluble pea fibers, Fuji Brandenburg uses a process developed within the Fuji Oil Group, harnessing key technologies configured by our specialists at GEA to match the plant’s exacting requirements. The scope of GEA technologies spans the production process, from removing remaining fibers in the extraction solution, to finished powder.
Fuji Brandenburg was founded in 2019, but the dialogue between our GEA teams and Fuji Oil started back in 2017, when the latter was searching for a key technology supplier for the prospective plant. GEA was familiar with our process and engineering expertise and we had GEA systems already in operation.
Combining expertise
The combination of GEA process, engineering and industry insight, project execution knowhow and local presence was instrumental in helping us, in 2020, secure the contract to equip the Fuji Brandenburg site. Teams from both organizations worked together to identify and configure key technology requirements for the plant to process the pea fiber into soluble pea fiber. The GEA systems were then configured, evaluated and optimized through several rounds of trials and assessment at our test sites in Ettlingen, Germany, and Soeborg, Denmark. Working to strict COVID restrictions, the teams were able to complete the project, install and commission the new facility without unnecessary delays, and maintain close collaboration according to schedule.
''It is a great experience to build up a company like Fuji Brandenburg from the scratch. To install all the high technology and special equipment was quite challenging, especially due to the pandemic situation and its consequences. Together with the GEA team we could bring this part of the project to a successful end. We enjoyed the corporation with GEA and felt like one joint team.''
Daniel Berens
Site Manager of Fuji Brandenburg GmbH
The soluble pea fiber produced at the site is marketed as a valuable ingredient for the food and beverage industry.
''It’s an example of GEA’s strong capabilities as a company that become even stronger through dedication and teamwork. When we act as one team, listen carefully to our customers’ specific needs and adapt accordingly, we are definitely capable of outmatching competition.''
Johannes Kring
Project Manager, Business Unit Liquid Technologies, Liquid & Powder Technologies
''The team spirit has been evident all along from the proposal phase to the test work done at multiple GEA sites,” he said. “I’m convinced that this strong cross-functional effort helped make it clear to the customer that GEA was the right supplier for the job. I’m impressed by the efforts made by all colleagues involved in this project.”
Mikkel Dreyer
Area Sales Manager-Food Ingredients, Business Unit Powder Technologies, Liquid & Powder Technologies
Configuring the production process
The production process uses GEA technology to isolate and convert raw, soluble pea fiber into a stable, high quality fine white pea powder with multiple applications across the food and beverage industry. The final configuration at Fuji Brandenburg included CIP (clean-in-place) units for the equipment.
Enabling fast and efficient cleaning, the CIP unit comprises liquid tanks, valves, heat exchangers and pumps. CIP reduces plant downtime, so helping to maximize throughput, and ultimately enable a faster return on investment and potentially profits. Automated CIP can also reduce the use of chemicals and water, so helping to improve sustainability by reducing waste and resource use, and requires less manual intervention, so operators are free to carry out other tasks.
Saving energy and reducing waste
Here at GEA we strive to build sustainability into the systems we configure for our customers. The spray dryer at Fuji Brandenburg is equipped with an exhaust gas heat recovery system so that hot exhaust air from the spray dryer is taken through a heat exchanger to recover the energy and reuse it to heat the incoming air. This can reduce overall energy requirements for the plant, as well as reduce waste heat and emissions, and so carbon footprint.
Close cooperation
The close, continued collaboration between Fuji Brandenburg and GEA exemplifies how combining industry innovation and future thinking with GEA technology and process expertise can drive sustainable manufacturing. Through the project Fuji Brandenburg has generated a commercially viable process for taking a low-value side stream - crop-derived insoluble fiber - and converting that side stream into a high value functional ingredient for multiple food applications.
