Potato Flakes Production Line

Main Application Areas

Process Flow

Raw material receiving → Washing and destoning → Steam depeeling → Slicing → Blanching → Cooling → Cooking → Slurry making → Drum drying → Crushing and sieving → Measuring and packaging

Detailed Process Breakdown

1. Raw Material Receiving and Sorting

After mature, fresh potatoes enter the factory, they are first sorted according to their moisture content. A portion enters the production process, while the remainder is sent to the warehouse for storage. Raw materials must be purebred, mature, and fresh potatoes, strictly removing sprouted, green, or moldy potatoes. Varieties with shallow eyes, good shape, white flesh, low reducing sugar content, and low solanine content should be selected.

2. Washing and Destoning

Function: Removes mud, clay, and impurities such as stones and stems from the surface of the potatoes.

Equipment Configuration: The destoning and washing machine consists of three functional zones—a cyclone destoning zone to separate stones, a scum removal zone to remove stems, leaves, and fibrous roots, and a water washing zone to ensure thorough cleaning.

Capacity: The washing equipment can reach 10-30 tons per hour.

3. Steam Peeling

Working Principle: Potatoes are placed in a steam tank, where high-pressure steam cooks the skin, followed by instantaneous depressurization to loosen the skin.

Technical Features: BLAS T-VENT technology achieves rapid pressure release in 0.5 seconds, significantly reducing peeling losses.

Working pressure: P≤1.5MPa, time adjustable.

Peeling loss: Steam peeling loss is generally 4%-7%, far lower than the 15% of traditional mechanical peeling.

Subsequent processing: The material passes through a brush peeler to separate the loosened skin from the flesh, followed by water spraying for washing.

4. Manual sorting: After peeling and washing, the potatoes pass through a sorting conveyor belt, where sprouts and diseased parts are strictly removed manually to ensure raw material quality.

5. Slicing

Equipment: Water jet cutter, replacing traditional mechanical cutting with water jet cutting.

Technical Advantages: Fast cutting speed, low material loss, smooth and flat potato slices with almost no feathering.

Slice Thickness: Generally 10-15mm (depending on potato maturity).

Guiding Design: Equipped with a flexible guide to ensure potatoes of all sizes pass vertically through the center of the cutter head, improving product quality and yield.

6. Blanching

Function: Destroys catalase and peroxidase in potatoes, preventing browning; promotes starch gelation and protects cell membranes.

Process Parameters: Water temperature 72℃, time adjustable for 20 minutes.

Equipment Features: The spiral blanching machine uses reasonable heat distribution and water flow control to keep the potato slices suspended in a suspended state. Floating state, uniform heating; equipped with an external heat exchanger and a balanced heating system.

7. Cooling

Function: Rinses blanched potato chips with cold water to remove free starch and prevent sticking or burning during drying.

Process Requirements: The center temperature of the potato chips should drop below 15-25℃.

Equipment: Screw cooler, which cools the material to the target temperature through direct injection of chilled water or heat exchange, ensuring the production of non-sticky, light, and fluffy mashed potatoes.

8. Cooking

Function: Fully gelatinizes the pre-cooked and cooled potatoes, ensuring complete starch maturation.

Process Parameters: Cooking temperature 95-98℃, time adjustable from 15-45 minutes.

Equipment: Screw cooker using direct steam injection, equipped with multiple steam inlets for heat optimization. Distribution and Precise Temperature Control

9. Mashing

Function: To mash cooked potatoes into a uniformly textured mashed potato.

Equipment Configuration: The mashing machine is equipped with a screw conveyor that receives cooked potato slices and forces them through a grid screen; auxiliary materials can be added as needed.

Conveying Method: Utilizes a European-imported special low-damage mashed potato pump to avoid damaging the mashed potato.

10. Drum Drying

Core Process: The mashed potato is evenly coated onto the surface of a high-temperature drying roller by a spreading device, rapidly drying the moisture content from approximately 80% to below 8%.

Drying Temperature: 50-90℃, continuous dehydration for 6-12 hours.

Equipment Features: The roller surface is coated with a special alloy coating, forming a thin and evenly distributed film of mashed potato on the heated cylinder wall; equipped with... Fully sealed enclosure for collecting and recovering large amounts of steam generated during the drying process.

Key parameters: Maximum drying drum capacity up to 1100 kg/unit per hour.

11. Crushing and Screening

Function: Flake materials scraped from the drum are conveyed into the crusher for crushing and then screened.

Finished product standards: Finished products are collected in the hopper; those not meeting standards are returned to the crusher for further crushing.

System composition: The core crushing and packaging system encompasses five core units: vacuum conveying, fine crushing, buffer storage, metal detection, and quantitative filling.

12. Metering and Packaging

Packaging specifications: Metered packaging at 25 kg net weight per bag.

Packaging material: Laminated woven bags for moisture protection.

Storage conditions: Cool, dry environment; avoid high temperatures that could cause clumping and deterioration.

The potato flake flour production line uses drum drying as its core technology. Through a complete process of "washing → peeling → slicing → blanching → cooling → steaming → mashing → drying → grinding → packaging," fresh potatoes are processed into an important intermediate raw material for the food industry. Currently, the production line is developing towards large-scale, intelligent, and energy-efficient operations, with a single-line capacity exceeding 3300 kg/hour and an annual output value exceeding 50 million yuan. With continuous technological advancements and a more complete industrial chain, flake flour production will play an even more vital role in the food industry.

Shandong TCA Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. is a global manufacturing supplier specializing in comprehensive solutions for food processing projects. Its core focus is on the research and development and sales of complete sets of equipment for processing potatoes, fruits and vegetables, and meats. With its strong technological R&D capabilities, comprehensive end-to-end service system, and global footprint, it has become a leading enterprise in the potato processing equipment field. Its snowflake flour production line, with its high degree of automation, stable equipment performance, and excellent cost-effectiveness, is suitable for medium to large-scale food processing enterprises with large-scale production needs, plans to expand into international markets, or those requiring complete solutions.