Food Processing Projects

Next Century Project – Full-service engineering as part of a design- build team for the new 340,000 sq. ft. expansion of the West Chocolate Plant. The project scope included HVAC, electrical, plumbing, fire protection, and process engineering. The project represented a $300 million investment for The Hershey Company. The high-tech plant produces Hershey’s® Bars, Hershey’s® Kisses®, Hershey’s® Syrup, and Rolo® Candies. Computer-controlled manufacturing processes and implementation of robotics continue Hershey’s® tradition of innovation, and the high-speed lines can produce up to 70 million Kisses® per day. The plant includes more than ten miles of piping, 17,000 yards of concrete, and 600 tons of reinforcing steel. A series of multi-story silos are used to store fresh, liquid milk and an almond roasting plant is located on-site. The construction process was Zero Waste to Landfill (ZWL), and the plant continues to operate in that capacity.

Bean Receiving and Cleaning – Engineering services for a project that included installing all new cocoa bean receiving and cleaning equipment systems. Dust collection will be enhanced to service the new receiving / cleaning systems. The scope included detailed process mechanical and electrical/control design for new cocoa bean truck receiving operations, two new cocoa bean cleaning processes, common conveying systems and associated dust collection for both new and some existing equipment in the cocoa bean silo storage area. Process flow diagrams (PFD) and process & instrumentation diagrams (P&ID) were developed using industry standards.

Bean Roasting and Milling – Engineering services installation of new cocoa bean roasting and milling equipment systems. A new cocoa bean roasting system was installed under this project. Additional modifications were made to the existing cocoa bean roasting system. The scope included detailed process mechanical and electrical/control design for new cocoa bean roasting system, common conveying systems and associated dust collection for both new and existing equipment in the cocoa bean roasting area. Process flow diagrams (PFD) and process & instrumentation diagrams (P&ID) were developed using industry standards.

Cocoa Butter Facility – Renovation of an existing 66,000 sq. ft. building and conversion into manufacturing/warehousing facility for cocoa butter processing and deodorizing. JDB provided mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and processing engineering for the facility. Future provisions include the addition of liquor and powder operations.

Green Bean Unloading – Engineering for a project to install a green coffee unloading and cleaning station to increase influent capacity to serve the full roasting capacity of the plant. The project includes equipment to increase green bean cleaning capacity by 48,000 pounds per hour including new unloading station, vertical conveyance, cleaning station, vacuum pneumatic conveyance, and diverter valves. The project also includes installation of an 8 million pound silo battery for additional storage capacity including rotary bean distributors, scale hoppers with load cells, and vacuum pneumatic conveyance for distribution to roaster stations. Support construction includes additional dust collection system, stair platform relocation with enclosing walls, structural equipment supports, electrical distribution, and process controls. Process flow diagrams (PFD) and process & instrumentation diagrams (P&ID) were developed using industry standards.

Hot Chaff – Expansion of the existing 350,000 sq. ft. Building 3000. Work included phased construction for demolition, temporary conveyor modifications, and building shell addition in preparation for upgrades to the roasting hot-chaff transport and delivery system.

Plant Air Conditioning – Major project to add air conditioning to the existing 350,000 sq. ft. York Roasting Plant Building 3000. Air conditioning system consisted of fourteen packaged rooftop units totaling 560-tons of cooling capacity. The packaged rooftop units are located on five structural steel roof platforms, each spanning between existing columns. Structural steel was extended up through the roof at the columns to support the steel platforms.

Process Steam Boiler & Flue Gas Economizer – Engineering for a project to install a high efficiency gas-fired fire tube steam boiler with a two-stage economizer in the boiler stack to capture heat from the flue gases and use the recovered energy to heat makeup water and boiler feed-water. The project includes the installation of the outdoor packaged high-pressure steam boiler, flue gas economizer, makeup water piping, mechanical insulation, and process controls. The project also includes installation of structural supports and electrical controls.

Non-Sterile Black Pepper Conveying – Engineering for a project to install a bulk product conveying system to transport cleaned non-sterile black pepper from the cleaning line to the clean black pepper silos. The project includes the installation of a bulk product conveying system, conveyance piping and silo diverting stations. It also includes installation of structural equipment supports, electrical distribution, and process controls.

Roll Mills – Engineering for a project to replace aging roll mills in a flour mill and increase milling capacity to 275 tons per day. The project included the installation of 15 new Uger roll mills schematic design drawings for process layout including roll mill configuration, pneumatic conveyance systems, and upgrades to dust collection systems. Process flow diagrams (PFD) and process & instrumentation diagrams (P&ID) were developed using ADM standards. The project included a performance specification for the process control design and panel fabrication including input/output control points listing, functional operation descriptions, preliminary control panel and MHI layouts.