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Food and beverage manufacturers use boilers, ovens, furnaces, and much natural gas to process and package products. They also move masses of air around the facilities. Thermal mass flow meters help the food and beverage industry in applications that include tank blanketing, dryer air flow, carbonation, compressed air, and leak detection.
Flow Meter Applications in the Food and Beverage Industry
Measure Hydrogen and Nitrogen Flow – Tank Blanketing
Food and beverage manufacturers use tank blanketing for storing fats, cooking oils, purified water, and foods to increase product shelf-life, reduce oxidation, and prepare the product for packaging and transportation. The FDA regulates blanketing systems in the food industry, and manufacturers must comply with strict maintenance programs for all product-contact guidelines regarding filter specifications, purity, and toxicity. When manufacturers use inert gases, for example, nitrogen, they must follow strict protocols to ensure the workers are not exposed to unsafe or lethal doses of any non-breathable substance. Additionally, in the United States, OSHA regulates any commercial use of tank blanketing.
The wide rangeability, exceptional low flow sensitivity, and explosion-proof construction make the Sage meter ideal for these applications.
Measurement and Control of Dryer Air Flow
Like the pharmaceutical industry, the food and beverage industry uses many different dryers, including tray dryers, tunnel dryers, roller or drum dryers, fluidized bed dryers, spray dryers, pneumatic dryers, and rotary-trough dryers, bin dryers, belt dryers, vacuum dryers, and freeze dryers.
Many dryer applications require accurate, repeatable measurement and control of dryer air flow rates to assure product quality and consistency.
Spay Dryer Animation Video
Carbonation – Carbon Dioxide Measurement
Carbon dioxide (CO2) measurement, connected to the carbonation process, is standard in all breweries. The flow rates vary significantly and sometimes require a meter with multiple calibrations to accommodate the extensive turndown ratios. The Sage thermal mass flow meter with four separate ranges and calibrations is a natural choice for this application.
Measure Air Injections Flow Rates
Many ice cream manufacturers use continuous freezers and inject compressed air into their products to make them lighter and less dense. Some pump nontoxic and inert gas into the product mix. Thermal mass flow meters measure ice cream manufacturing plants’ gas or air injection rates.
Compressed Air Leak Detection
Leak detection of compressed air is a common application for thermal mass flow meters in food processing.
Packaging in Potato Chips and Snacks
Many potato chips and similar snack makers use thermal mass flow meters to measure the packaging machinery’s nitrogen injection flow rates and check for leaks in associated devices.
To learn more about other industries that use thermal mass flow meters, visit Six Industrial Areas That Use Thermal Mass Flow Meters.
6 Thermal Mass flow Meter Applications in Pharma and Biotech
Image by Mrdidg from Pixabay
