Editor’s choice
CRITICAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR LIQUID BATCHING SYSTEMS System repeatability:
Hydraulic stability is essential. Air pockets in the line can lead to dynamic flow situations, causing volumetric errors in delivery. Ensuring a hydraulically locked system eliminates such variability and enhances repeatability.
Stable process conditions: Changes in pressure, temperature, or flow rate can push flowmeters into unpredictable operational zones, affecting calibration and accuracy. Maintaining consistent conditions is vital for reliable performance.
Flow switching in bottling operations In bottling operations, reliable liquid flow indication prevents costly disruptions. Inline flow switches detect and manage critical scenarios such as product flow loss, ensuring efficient operations. Several food and drink manufacturers use Titan’s mini turbine flowmeters as low-cost alternative flow switches. Flow switches also control carbon dioxide addition, halt bottling lines when necessary, and prevent refrigerant or chiller shutdowns, enabling maximum process efficiency.
Pulsating flow management: Selection of the pump type is important to avoid pulsating flow. Pulsation from certain pumps can disrupt flow rates, especially in aggressive chemical applications. Pressure regulators and pulsation dampers should be incorporated into flow systems to achieve a smooth and constant flow.
Strategic placement of flowmeters: Positioning the flowmeter just before the dispense valve minimises fluid inertia and improves measurement accuracy.
Understanding flowmeter resolution: Low-resolution meters, such as those with one pulse per litre, may lack precision in small
batch applications. However, going too high in resolution is an unnecessary expense when choosing equipment. Selecting the appropriate resolution for the task is critical for reliable performance.
Valve selection and calibration: The type of shut-off valve used can impact delivery accuracy. Fast-acting solenoids are ideal for smaller pipelines, while larger setups benefit from solutions like multi-stage shut-off systems or “batch overrun compensation” programming to fine-tune results.
Optimising electronic flowmeters: High-performance batching meters (such as Titan’s ultrasonic Atrato® flowmeter) can predict stop signals in advance, ensuring consistent delivery even at high speeds.
ENHANCING PROCESS EFFICIENCY By accounting for these factors during system design and commissioning, engineers can eliminate common pitfalls in liquid metering and achieve extremely good accuracy. And investing in the appropriate flow measurement technology that suits the application requirements will ensure that the batching system performs with precision and consistency.
Titan Enterprises
flowmeters.co.uk
Instrumentation Monthly April 2025
13
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