A Greener Food Processing Industry With Miura’s Steam Solutions

Industrial steam boilers are critical components of the food processing industry. Food processing plants follow strict quality controls, producing food and beverages sold nationwide and internationally. Within the food processing industry, boilers serve several functions vital to maintaining strict hygiene codes. 

Boilers produce high-quality steam used to clean tools and equipment and maintain sanitary conditions. Steam boilers are used to cook food, ensuring all products reach specific temperatures for sterilization or pasteurization. Steam is also used to clean the packages and containers for the final food products so they are ready to be safely transported along the supply chain to their destination. But, while boilers are necessary, they can also be a budgetary drain and skyrocket a plant’s energy emissions if not properly maintained or leveraging outdated technology.

Miura’s industrial steam boilers play the game differently. With lower emissions, lower energy requirements, and costs, and lower risks, these boilers are designed to help the food processing industry towards a greener, more sustainable future. 

What Are the Energy Concerns Faced by the Food Processing Industry?

As with many industries, tackling global emissions is a priority concern for food processing operations. While businesses across the country rely on heat sources such as steam boilers, state and nationwide regulations are clamping down on emission rates and energy use. 

The US is second only to China in primary energy and fossil fuel consumption. A 2021 announcement from the United Nations attributed a massive amount of global emissions to our food systems – from how we produce, process, and package food. New data reveals that global food systems account for a third of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. 

Our dependence on energy sources for food supply chains affects every production level. Agriculture, which uses fertilizers and land, plays a mammoth role, but supply chains – relying on processing, packaging, refrigeration, and transport – are increasingly dominant emissions contributors. 

How Can Miura Help?

The food processing industry must find innovative ways to reduce emissions and bring down its energy consumption. Low-emission steam boilers are a way forward. 

Traditional boilers need high volumes of water for a steam output that meets a food processing plant’s needs. Traditional boilers typically burn high levels of natural gas, propane, No.2 fuel, oil, or kerosene oil to achieve an adequate amount of steam, all of which produce noxious gases harmful to the environment. 

Miura Boilers: Low Water and Energy Use

Our solution prioritizes fuel-to-steam efficiency. Miura’s water-tube modular steam boilers require only a small volume of water for a powerful steam output. They need less water and fuel to operate and have a low NOx and CO2 emissions rating, making the water-tube boiler the greener steam solution. 

While traditional fire-tube boilers take hours to fire up and cool down, Miura’s modular boilers can do so in five minutes. The innovative design allows processing plants to fire up their boilers as needed, reducing energy waste and energy costs. 

Now, processing plants can streamline their operations, using steam boilers only when necessary and reducing their overall water consumption – essential for businesses operating in drought areas like California. 

Miura’s steam boilers still rely on fossil fuels to function, but they do so at a dramatically reduced cost to the environment and the company. Until “greener” energy sources become more cost-effective and efficient to produce and use (we calculated that hydrogen fuel costs* for generating steam are over 12 times more than natural gas, while the costs of using electricity are five times more than natural gas ), Miura’s high-efficiency boilers are food processing plants’ energy-saving solution.  

One of Miura’s LX-300 SGs running at full power (i.e., 100% burn rate) for one year (approximately 8,500 hours) will result in the following fuel costs:

Table: Fuel Costs Versus CO2 Emissions

Fuel Type	Fuel Price*	Carbon Emissions (tCO2)
Natural Gas	$601,167.02 ($5.5/Mcf)	5,898.89
Electricity	$3,145,729.43 ($0.111/kWh)	10,926.55
#2 Oil	$2,413,999.31 ($2.96/Gal)	8,573.45
Propane	$2,985,228.80 ($2.45/Gal)	7,010.44
Hydrogen	$8,269,636.02 ($10.00/kg)	0

*Average prices per unit of fuel in 2021 | US Energy Information Administration

Easy to Operate, With a Smaller Footprint

Shifting to a greener steam solution doesn’t require too much extra heavy lifting. Miura’s modular steam boilers are compact (while still equaling the horsepower produced by larger traditional boilers). The boiler’s reduced footprint provides greater flexibility, giving processing plants more room for operations. When your operations expand, your steam output will, too; our systems can be easily added to when necessary.  

We rely on smart technology, and our IoT products allow boiler room operators to monitor all systems remotely. If a problem arises, they’ll know before it becomes a costly fix. Monitoring and maintenance technology also prevent a loss of working hours because of a system shutdown. Food products are protected from unexpected pauses in steam functions, and costly maintenance is avoided. 

Miura’s systems are easy to maintain, use, and with you for the long run. 

Miura at the FA&M Symposium and Expo

In October, we attended this year’s FA&M Symposium and Expo in Bonita Springs, Florida. Our greener steam solutions were presented to members of the food processing and beverage manufacturing industry as part of a drive towards smart, innovative products to streamline and reduce the energy consumption of the food industry. 

We loved demonstrating how choosing cleaner steam solutions is taking a large step toward achieving a greener processing plant and meeting state and national gas emission standards. 

Contact us today if you were at the expo and would like to talk further with one of our experts about how Miura can help you revolutionize your food processing operations. If you missed the FA&M Symposium and Expo but want to learn how our innovative boilers can work in your business, speak to a representative today.