MC Mühlenchemie has introduced a new pilot extrusion press at its Pasta Lab in Ahrensburg, enabling the simulation of full-scale industrial production conditions and offering millers deeper insight into flour functionality and enzyme performance.
Installed at the Stern-Technology Center, the custom-built system developed in partnership with Fava S.p.A. uses vertical extrusion technology to replicate the mechanical and process conditions found in industrial pasta plants. This marks a significant step forward from conventional laboratory presses, which typically rely on horizontal extrusion and offer limited control over key process parameters.
A central advantage of the new system is its ability to precisely control the critical phase between kneading and extrusion, where enzyme activity has the greatest influence on pasta quality attributes such as firmness, stickiness and cooking stability. By regulating factors including water availability and dough dwell time, the press allows detailed analysis of enzyme functionality under realistic production conditions.
The pilot unit covers the initial stages of pasta production – mixing, kneading and extrusion – and incorporates advanced control features. Operators can independently adjust kneader speeds, monitor vacuum levels, and precisely regulate temperature across the dough, cylinder and extrusion head. Ventilation speed and temperature during extrusion can also be fine-tuned, ensuring accurate replication of industrial processing environments.
In addition to its mechanical capabilities, the system introduces full digitalisation of the testing process. All parameters, from raw materials and enzyme formulations to processing and drying profiles, are automatically recorded and archived. This creates a comprehensive and traceable database, enabling long-term comparison of trials across different customer projects.
Artificial intelligence further enhances the system’s analytical capabilities. A set of integrated calculation models continuously evaluates real-time data, such as dough temperature and motor load, to predict rheological behaviour. This allows development teams to generate data-driven recommendations more quickly and move towards a more predictive approach to product optimisation.
For milling and pasta production companies, the new pilot press offers the ability to test formulations under conditions that closely mirror their own manufacturing environments. This improves the reliability and transferability of results from laboratory trials to industrial-scale production, reducing development risks and shortening time to market.
The installation complements an existing pilot dryer added in 2023, effectively creating a miniature pasta factory capable of simulating the entire process from flour to finished product. According to the company, this integrated approach enables research and development projects that were previously not feasible at pilot scale.
The new extrusion press is the latest outcome of the ongoing collaboration between MC Mühlenchemie and Fava S.p.A., combining expertise in flour treatment, enzyme technology and processing equipment to deliver more advanced solutions for the global pasta industry.
