CORBEIL-ESSONES, FRANCE – French milling company Moulins Soufflet announced on social media the opening of its new flour mill in Corbeil-Essones, France.

Moulins Soufflet officials described the newly constructed, five-story mill as featuring “the latest possible innovations in milling: automation, computerization, a state-of-the-art milling process, more ecological, more diversified flour (up to the rare T38), quality management, energy and food safety.”

It has a processing capacity of 900 tonnes of wheat per day (the equivalent of 5 million baguettes) and flour storage of more than 10,000 tonnes, the company said. The facility includes two milling sections and a flour silo.

The grand opening this week was attended by many customers and associates and included speeches from industry and political leaders.

The primary supplier of milling equipment for the project, which was first announced in November 2018, is Padova, Italy-based Omas.

Moulins Soufflet invested in Omas’ Flexy Mill technology and in the fully equipped roller mill Leonardo S provided with ODS (Omas drive system) and OPS systems (Omas pressure system).

Omas’ Direct Drive (DD) involves the direct coupling of permanent magnet motors to the grinding cycles and gives maximum flexibility of adaption of rollers speed and ratio, depending on the grinding step, and on the type of grain or the type of finished product desired. This results in the possibility of producing many types of flour. Omas noted that an adaptive Flexy Mill guarantees maximum freedom to the miller who is not bound to the traditional fixed turns of the cylinders, thus achieving the maximum possible performance.

The DD system also increases the extraction of flour by 0.5%, compared to traditional milling plants. This technology has been applied not only to the roller mills but to the plansifters, vibrating finisher and bran finisher.

The new milling plant also includes the Plansifters Galileo S, the intensive wheat Sterilizers Giotto S and many other automations from Omas which will ensure a remote control without an operator.

The main equipment supplied by Omas includes six Galileo S p.g830 plansifters, eight Michelangelo mi50 purifiers, four Leonardo S 8x1250x250 roller mills and 34 Leonardo S 4x1000x250 roller mills.

The milling plant is equipped with Omas’ KERS - Kinematic Energy Recovery System (KERS), which has a world patent. It decreases energy costs by 30%, reducing the demand for electrical energy of roller mills and recovering the unused kinetic energy by the cylinders during grinding. Omas describes it as a “key technology for a high-performance but above all sustainable mill, which significantly reduces the impact in terms of CO2 emissions.”

The mill has been designed without edges and closed and sealed profiles to ensure maximum levels of hygiene and food safety, Omas said. Suitable materials have been used to avoid alterations and contamination of food, following MOCA regulations.