The Lucent is Bühler’s new generation of cocoa nib roasting technology, designed to combine high throughput, significantly improved energy efficiency, precise process control, food safety, and consistent roasting quality.
Improving energy efficiency and throughput
At the heart of the Lucent is a completely redesigned roasting process with optimised heat transfer and airflow. Uniform airflow around the drum enables more even heat distribution, while filling degrees of up to 70% support maximum throughput with reduced energy consumption per tonne. The result is minimum 20% overall energy savings in heating and cooling compared with current industry standards, combined with batch capacities of up to 6 tonnes.
A key innovation is its hybrid roasting technology, combining conductive and convective roasting. Clean convective air is independently heated and precisely controlled, improving drying performance while offering 25–40% potential energy savings, depending on the recipe. Lab trials with cocoa nibs demonstrated up to 40% lower energy consumption when convective air was used to remove surface moisture at the beginning of the batch.
Greater control, consistency and food safety
The Lucent also introduces predictive roasting, using model-based process control to continuously optimise operating conditions and deliver consistent roasting from batch to batch. A redesigned cooling system provides gentler, more homogeneous cooling, while the enclosed roasting chamber and new sealing concept enhance food safety and prevent product leakage.
Together, these innovations create a roasting platform that delivers more output with less energy while providing manufacturers with greater control, consistency, and flexibility.
