Meat Packaging

Meat packaging is accomplished in a number of ways, one of which is vacuum packaging using a barrier film to keep oxygen out of the package. The percentage of allowable oxygen for reasonable shelf life is very low, which equates to achieving a relatively deep vacuum in the packaging process. The packaging process is usually done at high speed, either on an in-line or carousel type machine. The typical vacuum system used is a single stage lubricated rotary vane vacuum pump and can be augmented with a booster blower for even faster packaging speeds. A vacuum of 2 torr or lower is created in the chamber, which is actually a small modified atmosphere, in which plastic film is sealed around the meat product. When the package is removed from the chamber, the film conforms to the meat due to atmospheric pressure against the outside of the package. Some of these machines incorporate “form, fill and seal” technology where a ridgid plastic sheet is thermoformed to form a portion of the package. The package is formed, filled with product, and sealed, all in the same process. The Onyxx Viper Single Stage vacuum pump line is a great choice for any type of meat packaging process, with it’s small compact design and high compression ratio, these pumps are designed to achieve fast packaging speeds and handle associated condensable loads of the packaging process.

The Viper Series Single Stage oil flooded Rotary Vane Vacuum Pump line (1-25Hp) is designed specifically for the harsh environments and demanding needs of the meat packaging industries. Each pump is constructed of cast iron with ductile iron rotor, three sliding phenolic resin vanes, aluminum exhaust box and Viton lip seals. Pumps are compact and easy to install, specifically designed with gas-ballasting to handle saturated air loads and high compression ratios to enable fast packaging speeds required with all vacuum packaging machines and vacuum chambers.