Pet Food Drying

  • Up to 45% subsidized acquisition costs

  • Save up to 75% on energy costs

  • 100% planning reliability thanks to premium after-sales service

Pet food is a sensitive product that requires optimal drying. Product protection and safety are paramount during the drying process. Our integrated heat pump system, with its consistent process parameters, ensures reliable drying. Low temperatures simultaneously protect your products. The closed system of our pet food dryers delivers excellent results in terms of appearance, aroma, and bioactivity. For your drying requirements, our developed heat pump-based condensation drying, specifically the Airgenex®food dryer system variant, offers the optimal solution. On the following pages, you will learn more about the advantages of our pet food dryers, how they function, and their applications.

Dry Food

Gentle drying takes place at the temperature you require or that is optimal for the product – typically between 30 and 70 °C. Sterilization steps during the drying process are, of course, also possible.

Chew Treats

Snacks of this type are typically dried in a single layer. Our dryers deliver the precise residual moisture you require – from soft to crunchy. We would be pleased to conduct trials to demonstrate how our low-temperature drying affects the appearance, aroma, and ingredients of your product.

Insect Food / Entofood

Protein-rich insects as pet food offer a sustainable alternative to conventional protein sources. Entotarian food also requires proper drying before it can be further processed or preserved.

Packaged Products

The drying of stand-up pouches, for example, has entirely different requirements compared to direct food drying. Here, the focus is on the complete and residue-free drying of surfaces. The parameter ‘time’ also typically plays a very significant role in packaging. You can find more about packaging drying here.

Do you require a custom solution and/or would you like to test the drying process beforehand?

Development with practical tests in our in-house development center

We are an innovation-driven team and welcome new challenges. HARTER tests your custom solution in the technical center under realistic conditions, optimizes the parameters, and documents the results transparently. Please contact us – we would be pleased to provide you with a non-binding consultation!

Contact our experts now +49 8383 9223‑210 or submit the contact form
2000

Drying systems

in over 20 countries stand for our quality

100

Employees

from all areas ensure a high level of vertical integration

+ 35

Years of experience

in the development of innovative drying systems

Your benefits

Heat pump-based condensation drying dries your products within a variable temperature range of 30 to 75 °C. Drying at low temperatures protects pet food and its ingredients.

High efficiency in the drying process is ensured with Airgenex®food dryers. We meticulously prepare the air and guide it precisely over and through the product. This ensures reliable drying, stabilizes your production process, and thus optimizes it. The heat pump, in turn, provides significant savings in energy and CO2. This can lead to very substantial cost savings compared to conventional systems.

Our many years of experience and expertise from hundreds of drying applications ensure you receive a solution precisely suited to your product and production process. This approach is key to your success as a customer.

Harter’s drying technology fundamentally operates in a closed system, meaning it functions without exchange with ambient air and is therefore climate-independent. This characteristic supports positive results concerning the bioactivity, aromas, and appearance of your products. For instance, the addition of additives is no longer necessary, and the dried products generally do not require additional flavorings.

Do you require sterilization, for example, to prevent mold formation? In such cases, we simply integrate a tempering step up to a maximum of 100 °C.

With minimal effort, our dryers can also be configured for cooling, if desired or required by the process. Several combined drying-cooling systems are already in operation. Furthermore, we are pleased to develop energy efficiency concepts, illustrating how surplus energy from our cooling can be integrated into other processes within your company.

Drying Systems for Pet Food

We develop and manufacture drying systems for both batch operation and continuous processes, thus adapting our technology to your specifications. We determine all specific parameters for successful drying beforehand in drying tests in our technical center.

The foundation for our successful drying is a perfect interplay of dehumidification and air guidance. At low temperatures, we guide extremely dry and thus unsaturated air precisely to where it should absorb moisture. This process – our heat pump-based condensation drying – is implemented across a wide variety of system types.

Our pet food drying systems are built from stainless steel as standard and are cleanable according to food industry standards. We are pleased to meet your individual requirements regarding hygiene design. Please contact us!
Is your application different?

We trust you understand that it is impossible to list all our drying solutions here. If your specific application is not mentioned, please contact us directly. We will be happy to provide you with a free consultation!

The Process

We dry with dry air and deliver it to the right places: A perfect interplay of air preparation and air guidance provides you with the best possible drying result.

Interface: Airgenex® Dehumidification Technology / Dryer – Moist air is extracted from the drying chamber and supplied to the dehumidification unit.

The pre-cooler pre-cools the air in a first stage. This significantly reduces the compressor’s energy consumption.

Moisture condenses on the fins of the air cooler and drains out of the drying system via the drip tray and condensate drain.

The cooled, dehumidified air is warmed up without additional energy by means of a pre-heater.
The air heater warms the air to the required process temperature.

The process air fan ensures the necessary air exchange between the Airgenex® dehumidification technology and the drying chamber.

Now, the dry, unsaturated air is guided into the drying chamber, where it absorbs the product’s moisture. Thus, the cycle is closed.

Efficiency that pays off.

Our HARTER drying systems save up to 75% CO₂ and are up to 45% governmentally funded.

Reliable – Competent – Long-term

Service that thinks ahead – for years to come

With the HARTER After-Sales Service, you secure a reliable and efficient drying solution for the long term. Whether it’s maintenance, spare parts supply, or technical adjustments – we support your system throughout its entire life cycle and ensure that it delivers optimal results at all times.

Performance Service

Optimal performance through our “all-round carefree package”

Custom Service

Flexible for changing requirements

Expert Service

Fast assistance in case of failure

Lifetime Service

So that the quality is always right

What Our Customers Say

Not convinced yet? Our customers are thrilled!

“Sometimes it’s better to say nothing and let your customers speak for themselves.”
– Regina Mader, Managing Director

“For several decades, we have been using a Harter sludge dryer in our contract electroplating facility and are very satisfied with it. The technology and service are reliable and have helped us save a significant amount of money on disposal.”

Daniel Hutter
Verzinkerei Kriessern AG

“BK Giulini GmbH has been successfully collaborating with Harter GmbH for approximately 20 years. We are very satisfied with both the dryer technology and the reliability of the entire system. Based on these positive experiences and the excellent service, we invested in another drying system of this type in 2023.”

Dimitri Baumbach
ICL Ladenburg / BK Giulini GmbH (ICL Group)

“In our waste incineration plant, we have saved a significant amount of money by drying our heavy metal-containing hydroxide sludge. The plant technology is sustainable and maintenance-friendly. In retrospect, the investment was a very good decision.”

Stefan Ringmann
KVA Linth
Submit your inquiry now

Please fill out the form now, and we will contact you as soon as possible.

Discover more insights

Brochures, technical reports, and press articles for those who want to know more details.

Brochures:
Technical reports:
Links to the trade press: