WATER / WASTEWATER
Titan Enterprises’ Beverage Flow Meters: Turbine vs. Ultrasonic – Which is Right for You?
When it comes to beverage dispensing and flow measurement, Titan Enterprises offers two distinct solutions: the well-established Beverage Turbine Meter and the newly released Ultrasonic Beverage Meter. Each has unique strengths and trade-offs, making the choice application-dependent.
Here we define the differences between the technologies used within each Beverage flow meter:
Measurement Technology
• Turbine Meter: Operates on a mechanical principle using a Pelton wheel turbine and sapphire bearings. This design provides consistent repeatability and has 1.5% Full Scale Accuracy but introduces moving parts into the system.
• Ultrasonic Meter: Uses the ‘time of flight’ principle to measure flow, with no moving parts. This eliminates mechanical wear and contamination risk, while offering a completely clean, straight bore, and accuracy better than 2% of reading.
Materials & Design
• Turbine Meter: Constructed from PVDF with sapphire bearings and Viton™ seals, it is robust and resistant to a wide temperature range. This device is NSF- approved under the NSF standard 169 as ‘Special Purpose Food Equipment and Devices’.
• Ultrasonic Meter: Built from food approved ABS/PC polymer with Viton™ seals, offering a lightweight design with a straight 6 mm bore. The absence of
internal obstructions makes it easy to clean using sponge balls. All parts are to FDA / EU food approved standards and NSF-approval will be sought for this product when it reaches full commercialisation.
Performance • Granularity:
o Beverage Turbine: 1400 pulses per litre (lower resolution).
o Ultrasonic Beverage: 5000 pulses per litre (higher resolution).
• Flow Range:
o Beverage Turbine: 0.6–10 l/min - limited low-end capability.
o Ultrasonic Beverage: 0.2–10 l/min - better for low flow applications.
• Linearity & Repeatability:
o Beverage Turbine: ±1.0% FSD linearity, excellent ±0.1% repeatability.
o Ultrasonic Beverage: ±2% of reading linearity, ±0.5% repeatability.
• Temperature Range:
o Beverage Turbine: 0–125 °C, suitable for hot and cold beverages.
o Ultrasonic Beverage: 3–15 °C, restricted primarily to chilled beverages.
Installation & Operation
• Both beverage meters use John Guest 3/8” push-fit connections, ensuring compatibility with standard tubing.
Unique Selling Points
• Beverage Turbine: A low-cost, robust, highly repeatable flowmeter, and capable of handling hot beverages.
• Ultrasonic Beverage Meter: Hygienic design with no moving parts, higher resolution, factory-settable K factor, potential for both NPN and PNP outputs, and easy cleaning. Good linearity enables effective use of the device in variable flow rates.
• Pressure drop is minimized in both designs, though the ultrasonic’s straight 6mm bore gives it a lower overall pressure drop.
• Power requirements differ slightly: the beverage turbine meter runs from 5–24 VDC, whereas the ultrasonic models require 7–24 VDC.
• Both types are calibrated in-situ by the customer to suit the system requirements.
• No moving parts within the ultrasonic beverage meter eliminates any contamination issues and allows the use of sponge balls to clean.
Cost Considerations
• Beverage Turbine: Budget-friendly and reliable, particularly for high-temperature or mixed-use applications.
• Ultrasonic Beverage: Higher cost, but justifiable for hygienic, low-maintenance, and high-resolution needs.
Disadvantages
• Beverage Turbine: Moving parts within the meter require cleaning and can cause blockages if not maintained.
• Ultrasonic Beverage: Narrow temperature range limits use to cold beverages; higher upfront cost.
Comparison Verdict
For beverage systems where cost-efficiency, high repeatability, and wide temperature tolerance are priorities, Titan’s Beverage Turbine Meter remains a solid choice. However, in applications demanding hygiene, easy cleaning, low-flow measurement, and long-term reliability with no moving parts, Titan’s new Ultrasonic Beverage Meter justifies its premium price.
The ultrasonic beverage meter is more accurate over the flow range, so ideal for monitoring systems with variable flow. It was also designed to allow cleaning with sponge balls in a beer dispense hose and pipe system.
Ultimately, the decision comes down to whether you value economy and temperature versatility (Turbine) or hygienic design and precision at low flows (Ultrasonic).
More information online:
ilmt.co/PL/6Dq5 66504pr@reply-direct.com
Rapid first-class water quality data removes doubt for Swiss water utility company Water Quality Monitoring
A state-of-the-art analyser system from bNovate that provides fast, fully automated monitoring of up to four sampling points has enabled a popular Swiss town to take swift action in the event of abnormal changes to water quality.
In the Canton of Zug (where since 1892, utility company WWZ has supplied water services), heavy rainfall, nearby construction and ageing assets could all trigger changes in water quality. Conventional monitoring, based only on periodic sampling, restricted the speed in which WWZ could take appropriate steps when the quality of the spring water was in question. Despite protected catchments and subsequent water treatment, the risk of spring water contamination remained.
Supplying water to 66,000 people in Zug, drawing from more than 80 springs that feed into four pipelines before treatment and storage, WWZ turned to leading water monitoring and analysis provider bNovate for a solution.
Simultaneously covering four spring
sources through BactoSwitch connected to BactoSense, bNovate provided a single monitoring hub. This system combination flags up abnormal changes and provides secure remote access through
BactoCloud to ensure continuous visibility and operational oversight. BactoSense is bNovate’s proven analyser that provides real- time bacterial monitoring with precise and actionable results in just 20 minutes. With BactoSwitch, four water lines can be covered, whilst BactoCloud is the secure cloud-based platform that synchs everything together for real-time monitoring of microbial water quality.
Karl Zimmermann, Fountaineer at WWZ, said: “Thanks to BactoSwitch and BactoCloud, we gained full visibility of the microbiological quality of all our spring waters. The monitoring solution not only highlights differences among springs, but also immediately alerts us in case of abnormal changes. This is crucial to quickly define the right measures and understand how our springs react to influencing factors.”
Early into its operation, the analysers showed
an abnormal rise in cell count at the plant inlet from one of the four monitored spring sources. Turbidity, however, remained low, and well below the discharge threshold. Laboratory samples that were taken shortly after the alarm confirmed a serious contamination two days later: E. coli, enterococci and high HPC (Heterotrophic Plate Count) levels were found in the incoming spring water. Fortunately, lab results also confirmed that the UV treatment was effective and treated water met the applicable guidelines.
WWZ’s fountaineer, Karl Zimmermann, continued: “Thanks to BactoSense, we can detect contaminations that turbidity would have missed. The online cell counts guide our actions, and the microbial fingerprint refines our assessment of microbial risk.”
bNovate’s CTO, Luigino Grasso, commented: “Our new single monitoring hub replaces multiple instruments, greatly streamlining operations, to provide WWZ with a coherent overview of all sources in parallel for the very first time. This continuous, multi-source monitoring gives them important immediate
visibility across all four spring sources, enabling the rapid interpretation of events and a clear distinction between routine variability and conditions that require intervention.”
He added: “The flow-cytometric evidence from the combination of our BactoSense, BactoSwitch and BactoCloud acts to show which springs are most variable and rainfall- sensitive. This then allows WWZ to prioritise resources where operational risk is highest, which is a major benefit that for any concerned water provider makes our protective systems a must-have.
“The overall result is a resilient, more predictable supply, supported by data-driven operational decisions and vastly improved public safety.”
bNovate’s spring water monitoring solution has become a cornerstone of WWZ’s water quality assurance, delivering actionable microbiological results from the plant, 24/7.
More information online:
ilmt.co/PL/Rn2N 66461pr@reply-direct.com
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