MFCs are used in a variety of food & beverage manufacturing processes to provide a measurable, continuous amount of gas to complete the recipe.
Al Harvey, Industrial Flow Specialist for Brooks Instrument, contributed to the article "Using Sensors to Improves Processes" in the February edition of Food Engineering.
HATFIELD, Pa. (February 18, 2021) In the February Tech Update of Food Engineering magazine, Wayne Labs authors, "Using Sensors to Improve Processes." Labs mentions how "there's a myriad of other sensing devices that you use in everyday products-from toys to dishwashers to automobiles." Sensors and controllers are even used in food and beverage operations to control the processes. “The food and beverage manufacturing applications that our MFCs focus on include ice cream, cheese, butter, yogurt, cell-based meat and the fermentation of beer and wine,” says Al Harvey, industrial flow specialist. "Each application requires a measurable, continuous amount of air, carbon dioxide or other gasses to complete the recipes," he adds.
"A challenging food application using conventional sensors is the process of making ice cream," says Harvey. “Our MFCs inject measurable and repeatable amounts of air into the cream for it to reach a specific weight as well as a smooth and creamy look and texture. In conjunction with other devices, when cream is injected into cakes, our MFCs allow for consistency in the process so each cake has the same amount of cream.”
Labs also adds, "In order to speed up the fermentation process of beer and wine, MFCs allow for a controlled and automated process to activate the yeast in order to make more recipes and maximize production. An oxygen sensor is used to provide feedback to the MFC to control the oxygen flow at peak level.
For its brewing process,
Rahr Eagle Brewery wanted better control of its fermentation process. The brewery had been using variable area flowmeters to measure mechanically compressed air injection to increase oxygen content. However, the brewery wanted to use pure oxygen to activate the yeast—in which case precise sensing and control was needed." The brewery replaced variable area flow meters by installing a
Brooks Instrument SLAMf mass flow controller with a NEMA4X/IP66 enclosure to precisely control and automate pure oxygen levels.
To read the detailed case study,
click here.