Pohl & Holmes, Inc.

 Huller/Sheller

        The constuction for the newly remodeled Huller/Sheller is complete which began in January 2008 and ended before harvest season in August 2008.  The capacity of the Pre-Cleaner is approximately 40 tons per hour.  There is eight field run tanks that have the capacity to hold approximately 20,000 pounds each.  The plant is able to process 13,000 pounds of quality finished product per hour.

Almond Dryer

      Pohl & Holmes also has two dryers making it convenient for high moisture product. Once the hulling/shelling process is complete, the almond meats are tested for excess moisture. If the excess moisture result indicates it is over 6% then the grower is contacted, and is staged to be dried. The dryer is designed for almonds only and the drying capacity is currently 60 tons at full capacity for our box dryer (48 bins) and 100 tons at full capacity at our stadium dryer(80 bins or 4 bulk loads). The installation of  our Stadium Dryer has allowed us the capability of  drying both bin and bulk loads.

Emissions 

        The following documentation was provided by The Food and Agriculture Industry on "Emissions and Controls".    Particulate matter (PM) is the primary air pollutant emitted from almond post-harvest processing operations.  All operations in an almond processing facility involve dust generation from the movement of trash, hulls, shells, and meats.  The quantity of PM emissions varies depending on the type of facility, havest method, trash content, climate, production rate, and the type and number of controls used by the facility.  Fugitive PM emissions are attributable primarily to unloading operations, but some fugitive emissions are generated from precleaning operations and subsequent screening operations.

        Emission control systems at almond post-harvest facilities include both ventilation systems to capture the dust generated during handling and processing of almonds, shells, hulls, and an air pollution control device to collect the captured PM.  Cyclones formerly served as the principal air pollution control devices for PM emissions from almond post-harvest operations.  However, a combination of fabric filters and cyclones, are becoming common.  Practices of combining and controlling specific exhaust streams from various operations vary considerably among facilities.  The exhaust stream from a single operation may be split and ducted to two or more control devices.  Conversely, exhaust streams from serveral operations may be combined and ducted to a single control device.  According to one source within the almond processing industry, out of approximately 350 almond hullers and huller/shellers, no two are alike.

Huller / Sheller

Plant Filtration