Platform for the food and beverage industry
Measurements in the food industry must be clean, hygienic and accurate. Krohne has a wide variety of measurement systems in its range, so it can offer the right system for every application. In this article we look at two applications: a flow meter in a CIP installation and a mass flow meter for measuring a non-conductive medium with continuously changing density.
A Turkish company develops and builds turnkey equipment. The company specializes in designing and manufacturing Cleaning-in-Place (CIP) cleaning machines, fully equipped with measurement technology. The CIP units consist of four lines that can be operated in parallel to perform different cleaning processes simultaneously. The CIP media to be measured are fresh water, process water, acid and lye. The company sought proven flow meters for monitoring the various cleaning media.
One of the necessary features of the meter was that it also had to be suitable for corrosive cleaning agents, such as acids and alkalis. The electromagnetic flow meter OPTIFLUX 6050 C from Krohne was chosen. The standard PFA lining of this meter is suitable for the aforementioned cleaning agents. In addition, the flow meter is gap-free and specially designed to remain clean and hygienic. To meet customer-specific requirements for process connection, the instrument is equipped with a hygienic connection according to DIN 11850 weld-end or DIN 11864-2.
The OPTIFLUX 6050 C monitors the actual flow and measures the total consumption of the various CIP lines. This allows the operator to control the dosing of the individual CIP media accordingly. Thus, the correct amount of detergent is always determined and added to ensure safe disinfection. Any costly overdosing is prevented, as well as an under-supply of the CIP lines.
For this simple application, the flowmeter is sufficiently accurate and at the same time cost-effective. Yet it remains stable over a longer period of time. It is maintenance-free and quite suitable for CIP media. Extensive digital communication is not required, monitoring of the CIP process is performed via the simple analog and pulse outputs of the amplifier.
Krohne also has a solution for accurate measurements in animal fat with fluctuating densities. An example. A waste company specializing in animal by-products processes category 3 waste and slaughter by-products into high quality protein meal and fats. For delivery purposes, the company needs precise truck loading. Depending on the composition, the density of the fat can vary significantly during loading. The waste company previously used a volumetric flow meter. Because the gauge determined the loading quantity as volume, it did not take into account the varying density.
The waste company decided to replace the meter and chose an OPTIMASS 1400 F, the market's most economical mass flow meter in its class. This coriolis mass flow meter, with straight measuring tubes, was installed directly in the pipe (DN 50) at the loading point. The meter is easy to install, without modifying the existing piping. In addition to mass flow, it also measures density and temperature.
Krohne supplied its customer with a complete loading solution, including a preselection counter connected to the OPTIMASS 1400 that allowed the exact loading quantity to be preset. The company can now accurately determine the mass of animal products during loading. The meter operates regardless of the conductivity of the medium and takes varying density into account. This means no measurement errors during the loading process.
For more information:
www.krohne.com/nl/products/flow-measurement/flowmeters
