Equipping an inline blending system with measurement technology
•Controllingandmonitoringtheinlineblendingprocesses•Highdemandsplacedonmeasurementtechnologyused•Completesolutionwithstandarddevicesfromtheonesource
1. Background KHSAGisoneoftheworld'sleadingmanufacturersoffillingandpackagingmachinesaswellasprocesscontrolsystemsforthefoodandbeverageindustry.Inadditiontocomponentsusedtofill,cleanandpackageliquids,KHSalsosuppliestheentirerangeofprocesstechnology,includingsystemsforblendingsyrup.
TheKHSInnoproParamixCisanewlydeveloped,fully-automatedblendingsystemfeaturinghorizontal,two-stagevacuumdeaeration.Itisaflexiblesystemsuitedtotheproductionoffruitjuices,nectarsandthecarbonationofmineralwater.Theblendingsystemconsistsofthreecomponentsandcanbeexpandedtoincludeafourthorfifthcomponentifneeded.Softdrinkscanbeblendedorre-dilutedinalargerange.Asanoption,finishedbeveragescanbesupplied,carbonatedand/orchilled.Likewise,beercoolerscanalsobeblendedand/orchilled.
Thefinished,carbonatedbeverageisstoredfortheinteriminabuffertankinjectedwithCO2.Fornon-carbonatedproducts,nitrogenorsterileairisusedoptionallyforsuperposition.ThefinishedproductisthensuppliedtothefillingmachineandbottledinPETorglassbottlesordrinkcans.
TheKHSInnoproParamixCbelongstothelatestgenerationofblendingsystems.Thepurposeofdevelopingthisnewgenerationwastoachieveshorterproductchangeoverswhilemaintainingminimalproductloss.
Increasedautomationandareductioninthespacerequiredalsoplayedarole.Thankstoitscompactdimensions,thesystemcanbeputinastandardmarinecontainerandsenttothecustomer.Itsblendingcapacityisbetween6,000l/hand72,000l/h.
APPLICATION REPORT Food & Beverage
Application 241 EN.indd 1 05.05.2010 12:02:13 Uhr
2. Measurement requirements
Toensureahighdegreeofsystemautomation,theflowratesofthecomponentsintroducedmustbemeasuredatvariouspoints.Theseinclude:
• Mass flow measurement of syrup concentrate Themeasurementofsyrupisthemostimportantflowmeasurementperformedintheblendingsystem.Ontheonehand,syrupisthemostexpensivebeverageelementusedinproduction;ontheotherhand,ithasasignificantimpactontheflavouroftheendproduct.Inthepast,itwascommontomeasuresyrupusinganelectromagnetic(volume)devicebutthatmethodshouldbereplacedbymassflowmeasurement.Massflowmeasurementprovidesgreatermeasuringaccuracywhendeterminingtheflowrateanditalsodeterminesthesyrupconcentrationin°Brix.
• Volume flow measurement of non-carbonated mixed product Thequantityofthenon-carbonatedblendedproductshouldbedeterminedpriortocarbonation.Thismeasuringpointfeaturesasufficientlylong,straightinletdistancetoenabletheuseofdifferenttypesofmeasuringdevices.
• MassflowmeasurementofCO2tocarbonatetheblendedproduct ThismeasurementhelpstoensureaconsistentinputofCO2intotheliquid.Ameasuringprinciplethatprovideshighaccuracyregardlessofthepressureandtemperatureofthegaswasrequired.
• Visual monitoring of the minimum throughput by way of measuring the CO2 content Asanoption,KHSoffersCO2andBrixdeterminationintheblendedproductasameasurementofquality.However,thismeasurementrequiresaminimumflowthroughtheanalysisunitused.Theflowisthendisplayedonameasuringdevice.
Thereliablefunctioningofthemeasurementtechnologyintheblendingsystemshouldbeguaranteedineachprocessphase.Particularlyduringstart-upandshut-downofthesystem,thecorrectmixingratiomustbepreciselymaintainedinordertokeepsyrupandwaterlosstoaminimum.Thismeansthatthedevicesusedmustmeetavarietyofrequirementsincludingeasydrainageandalargeturndownratio.
Becauseofitscompactsize,thesystemgenerallycontainsnolongstraightinletdistances.Thispresentsanadditionalchallengeforthemeasurementtechnologyused.KHSwaslookingforanappropriatecustomisedsolutionfromtheonesourceifpossible.
3. KROHNE solution
KROHNEisthestandardsupplierofmeasuringdevicesforKHSandwonthecontracttoequiptheinlineblendingsystemwithmeasurementtechnology.Thediagramdepictsthedesignofthesystemwiththemeasuringdevicesinstalled.Thelevelmeasurementdepictedinthesyruptankandinthebuffertankisoptionalandisnottakenintoaccounthere.Thefillingequipmentisforillustrativepurposesonly;itisnotpartoftheblendingsystemandisalsonotconsideredinthiscase.
APPLICATION REPORT
Application 241 EN.indd 2 05.05.2010 12:02:13 Uhr
Set-upoftheinlineblendingsystemconnectedtofillingmachine
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Filling machineMixing station
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The measuring tasks in the inline blending system were tackled as follows:
3.1 Flow measurement of syrup concentrate
AnOPTIMASS7300Coriolismassflowmeterisusedtomeasurethehighlyviscoussyrup.
APPLICATION REPORT
Production stages
A DegassingofthewaterBMixingpumpC CarbonationDFinishedbeverageE Filling
Supplied components
1 Water2 Syrupconcentrate3 CO2
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3.2 Volume flow measurement of the blended product
Thenon-carbonatedblendedproductismeasuredusinganOPTIFLUX6300electromagneticmeasuringdevicepriortocarbonation.
3.3 Mass flow measurement of CO2
ThequantityofCO2usedtocarbonatetheblendedproductismeasuredusinganOPTIMASS8300Coriolismassflowmeter.
3.4 Monitoring the quantity of CO2 in circulation
Asanoption,KHSoffersCO2andBrixdeterminationintheblendedproductasaqualitymeasurement.Theanalysisunitusedrequiresaminimumthroughputofliquid.AH250variableareaflowmeterisusedtovisuallychecktheminimumflowrateofapprox.300l/h.
APPLICATION REPORT
Application 241 EN.indd 4 05.05.2010 12:02:25 Uhr
4. Customer benefits
KROHNEmetKHSrequirementswithstandardmeasuringdevices.InadditiontothebasicdemandssuchasCIP/SIPcapability,theselectionwasmadeonthebasisoftheadvantagesfortheindividualmeasuringpoints.Theyinclude
• Mass flow measurement of syrup concentrate TheOPTIMASS7300usedfeaturesintegratedmeasurementofBrixconcentration.Thismakesitpossibletoadjustthemassflowandprecisesyrupconcentrationpriortodosing.Dilutedsyrupphaseswhichmayoccurduringproductchangeovercannowbealmostcompletelyutilized.Thereisnownoneedtodiscardthewater/syrupmixingphases.Instead,theycanbeblendedintothefinisheddrinkusingtheKHSminBrix™controlunit.Thisresultsinareductioninsyruplossandannualsavingsinexcessof2,200litresofsyrupforthissystem.
Themeasuringdevicefeaturesasinglestraightmeasuringtubewithoutaflowsplitter.Thatmeansitiseasytoclean,thereisveryminimalpressurelossandiseasytodrain.Thisisarequirementsothesystemcanbeofferedtoendcustomerswhowanttofrequentlychangetheirproducts.
• Volume flow measurement of non-carbonated blended product TheasepticsealingconceptwascrucialinselectingtheOPTIFLUX6300.ThereisanEPDMsealbetweentheasepticprocessconnectionandtheflowmeter.Itisdesignedsothatwhenfacedwithanincreasedtemperature,itdoesnotexpandintothemeasuringtubebutratheritexpandsbackwardsintoanexpansionspace.Thismeansthatnodepositscanbuildupontheseal,endangeringthequalityoftheblendedproduct.Usingthissealpreventsalmostalltransferofaromafromproducttoproductfollowingachangeover.
Fortheenduserofthesystem(beverageproducer),theOPTIFLUX6300canalsotakeontheroleofcheckingthequalityoftheblendedproduct.Thedevicefeaturesanapplicationanddevicediagnosticsfunctionasstandard,enablingit,forexample,todisplaytheconductivityofthemediumandtooutputitviathecurrentoutputsorbus.Thebeverageproduceristhennotifiedwhenthereisadeviationfromtheaverageconductivityexpected.
Afurthercriteriumwastheavailabilityoflargernominalsizes:TheOPTIFLUXisavailableinthenominalsizesDN2.5toDN150withallindustry-specificasepticconnections.ThismeansthatevenwithlargenominalsizeslikeDN125andDN150,asepticmeasuringdevicescanbeusedandtheblendingsystemcanbeequippedwithalargerversionofthesamemeasuringdevicewithouthavingtoswitchsuppliers.
Ifendcustomersrequireevenhigheraccuracy,KHShasensuredthatKROHNEalsohasanalternativefortheseapplicationsintheformofamassflowmeter.
• MassflowmeasurementoftheCO2suppliedtocarbonatetheblendedproduct Atthismeasuringpoint,agasflowmeterthatcanreliablymeasureverylowgasquantitiesisrequired.Inthepast,thermalmassmeasuringdeviceswereusedbuttheycouldnotreliablymeasureiftheendcustomerwasusingmoistgas.Forthisreason,theywerereplacedbyOPTIMASS8300massflowmeters.
Thedevicefeaturestwobentmeasuringtubeswithflowsplitters(twintubeloop).Thankstothereductioninthecrosssectionandtheresultingincreaseintheflowvelocityofthegas,itcanevenmeasuresmallmassflowsofgas.
• Visual monitoring of the minimum throughput by way of measuring the CO2 content Areliablyfunctioningflowindicatorwasrequiredforthismeasuringtask.TheH250variableareaflowmeterusedmeasurestheflowpurelymechanicallywithoutapowersupplyandfeaturesaneasytoreaddisplay.Thisallowsfora"fleeting"visualchecktoascertainwhethertheCO2dosagecontainstherightamountofgas.
APPLICATION REPORT
Application 241 EN.indd 5 05.05.2010 12:02:25 Uhr
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5. Products used
OPTIMASS 7300 C• Coriolismassflowmeterforliquidsandgases• Singlestraightmeasuringtube,easytoclean• Negligiblepressureloss• CertifiedtoEHEDGand3A
OPTIMASS 8300 C• Coriolismassflowmeterforliquidsandgases• Twoparallelbentmeasuringtubeswithflowsplitter
OPTIFLUX 6300 C• Electromagneticflowmeterforconductiveliquids• Specialsealingconceptpreventsproductbuild-uponsealingring• FDA-conformingmaterials• CertifiedtoEHEDGand3A
H250• Variableareaflowmeterforliquidsandgases• Alsoavailablewithstainlesssteelhousingforhygienicapplications
APPLICATION REPORT
Contact
PleasevisitourwebsiteforacurrentlistofallKROHNEcontactsandaddresses.
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