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Fast Batch Dosing In Filling Lines

Fast Batch Dosing In Filling Lines
The Food, Pharma and Beverage market offers countless opportunities for Bronkhorst High-Tech to provide solutions for optimizing dosing and filling applications.

One of the trends in the beverage market is fast batch dosing of additives. Additive dosing is a typical application in which flow meters can be used. Where does this apply in the beverage industry and why has additive batch dosing to go with high speed?

The trend of small-batch production

Traditionally, many industries make large batches of one product (mass production), and the beverage industry is no exception for that matter. However, due to the development of wider product ranges and diversification, which many companies face, this traditional way of production lacks the flexibility and efficiency which is often required these days. Companies optimize their processes, to be more resilient and responsive to risks. Nowadays, the trend is to make batches depending on the actual demand.

There is a demand  to be more flexible and cost efficient on many levels. In the beverage industry this involves easier changeover from one flavour product to another at minimum cleaning. To keep the additive dosing system separated from the main product stream (like water), most parts of the filling line will be kept untainted from additives. This will save time, cleaning liquid and therefore costs, when changing product.

The necessity of fast batch dosing

Most types of filling lines produce a high output. This demands an additive dosing system which provides fast batch dosing with high repeatability and accuracy. Important with fast batch dosing is the right amount of additive in the pre-defined dosing time. This amount is usually very small and a dosing time from tenths of milliseconds up to a second is not unusual in the beverage industry. To accurately dose small amounts of additives at such speed can be a challenge and requires excellent flow control.

Solutions for fast batch dosing

Bronkhorst offers several flow solutions to ensure the required accuracy and reproducibility for fast batch dosing. One way is by using an ES-FLOW™ ultrasonic volume flow meter. The hygienic design (authorized by 3-A) of these ultrasonic volume flow meters and their capability for cleaning in place (CIP/SIP) make them a good match for the food and beverage industry.

Another option would be to combine a mini CORI-FLOW™ Coriolis mass flow meter with a pump or suitable valve. With this system, fluids can be dosed in a very accurate and repeatable way into the production process without having to pressurize their container.

Contrary to many other Coriolis flow meters on the market, mini CORI-FLOW™ offers integrated PID control and close-coupled control valves or pumps, thus constituting very compact, cost- and space-saving, precise Coriolis Mass Flow Controllers.

The advantage of both the Bronkhorst® ultrasonic volume flow meter and Coriolis mass flow meter is that they are equipped with an integrated batch dosing functionality. This dosing technology allows batch dosing of small amounts of liquid additives with only a minimum of tolerance. The firmware is equipped with a “learning function” to correct even the smallest tolerances automatically (e.g. during start-up of the instrument or change of supply batches). The setup is customized to fulfill all requirements of the production; it can be integrated easily in already existing processes and production lines. Moreover, with this batch dosing functionality, quick and complex regulation with PLC or SCADA is not necessary anymore.

So whether you choose for Coriolis or Ultrasonic flow technology, Bronkhorst® flow instruments have contributed to the improvement of processes in the beverage and confectionery industry with respect to higher throughput, process flexibility and prevention of spillage of both additives and end products.

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Bronkhorst High-Tech develops and manufactures smart, sustainable and customer-specific low flow fluidics handling solutions from their vibrant base in Ruurlo in the Achterhoek region of the Netherlands. Our precise and reliable mass flow meters and...

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