Flow, level & control
Flow measurement in the food and drink industries
Manufacturers in the food and beverage industries have two main priorities: product quality and hygiene. For those operating with different fluids, from fruit juice to milk, chocolate and beer, there are many challenges in measuring flow while at the same time minimising waste and energy usage. Mark Lilley, field segment manager, Hygienic – food and beverage at Bürkert, looks at how the latest technology in fluid flow measurement can overcome these challenges and deliver additional benefits as well
F
low measurement is a vital part of food and drink manufacturing, from filling vessels to measuring ingredients
and controlling cleaning processes, the humble flow meter performs many tasks. Flow meters in general come in many shapes and sizes, but for applications in the food and beverage sector, only a few of these are suitable to ensure hygiene standards and precision are maintained.
OptiMised Hygiene Clean in Place (CIP) procedures often use demineralised water as well as expensive chemicals to remove scale, bacteria and debris from process vessels and pipework. However, using a flow meter that relies on the conductive proper ties of water, such as a magmeter, for this application can be unreliable because applications using de- ionised water or containing entrained bubbles do not provide reliable readings. One solution to these issues is to install a
Coriolis flow meter, but the expense of this type of flow meter makes it an unlikely candidate because the level of accuracy afforded by the Coriolis is not required in this application. In addition, large, cast devices can act as a heat sink, drawing temperature away from a heat sensitive product, such as chocolate, meaning that additional energy has to be used to ensure the product remains at the correct temperature throughout the process. This heat transfer issue also comes into play
after a CIP process, where the pipework will be heated by the cleaning procedure and should be returned to normal operating temperature before the manufacturing process can resume. The time for this to happen can be considerably extended when large heat sinks are included in the pipework.
22 October 2019 Instrumentation Monthly
gO witH tHe FLOw In some cases, plant operators may want to measure liquid flow in both directions, but many flow meter designs will not permit this, which means that two pieces of equipment are required, adding to installation and maintenance costs. In fact, almost every flow meter design has some drawbacks. Ultrasonic devices using the Doppler
Effect need par ticulate material or bubbles to reflect the signal, making them ineffective with pure fluids. Conversely, those that use transit time to measure flow can only work with pure fluids. A combination of the two can be employed, but again there are additional cost implications as well as issues with reduced accuracy in low flow conditions.
AdvAnced tecHnOLOgy In response to a growing need for a flow meter that could overcome many of these short-comings, Bürkert has developed a ground-breaking solution that uses surface acoustic wave (SAW) technology. The physical design of this revolutionary flow measurement system means that there is no direct contact of any sensor components with the fluid, making it ideal for hygienic applications. Furthermore, it can be manufactured to the
same surface finish as the rest of the pipeline, meaning that, in terms of hygiene, cleaning and flow conditions, there is no difference to any other piece of straight pipe. FLOWave measures flow in both directions, not
possible with magflow. If a process cannot withstand flow in both directions, there needs to
The Type 8098 FLOWave measures flow in both directions, meaning flow can be aggregated and the total flow can be calculated
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