In-line Brix measurement for food and beverage process monitoring

Food and beverage industry produces globally consumed commodities and undergoes strict hygiene regulations. Food and drinks producers bear the responsibility for adequate food quality and unprecedented safety along with emerging customer expectations for new product experiences. In order to make production profitable and sustainable, maintain highest product quality and safety, reliable process control tools must be in place. In the era of smart technologies, it is worth to undertake the best available practices and measure Brix reliably inline. Continuous inline monitoring of liquid concentration provides a range of benefits to all liquid food and beverage applications, be it dairy, brewery, fruits and vegetable processing, soft drinks and juices, desserts, confectionery and condiments, or effluent treatment.

Inline liquid concentration measurement for improved food and beverage production efficiency

In food and beverage production, changes in liquid concentration take place in many operations. Continuous inline monitoring of concentration brings benefits throughout all interim operations, from product intake, to product processing and waste streams control.

Moving from time-consuming and laborious manual sampling and laboratory analysis to real-time continuous concentration measurement in-line allows to avoid the risks of food contamination and release operators for other important tasks. All most critical food and beverage processes can benefit from inline Brix measurement, e.g. evaporation, dilution and blending, spray drying, extraction, cooking, fermentation, distillation, product interface detection and organics monitoring in effluent.

Once taken into operation, the Vaisala Polaris™ Sanitary Refractometer brings immediate cost and resource savings by ensuring efficient use of raw materials, reduced energy consumption, improved product quality and shelf life, correct ingredient dosing and product labeling, and product-to-product, product-to-water, product-to-CIP liquid interfaces detection.

Digital Vaisala Polaris Sanitary Refractometer is an inline tool for reliable process control in productions where product safety and hygiene are of utmost importance. It guarantees improved efficiency of processes, sustainable use of resources, maximized yield and eliminates costly product recalls.

State-of-the-art technology for inline Brix and concentration measurement

3-A and EHEDG

Designed specifically for highly regulated food and beverage industry, Vaisala Polaris Sanitary Refractometer is the best way to measure liquid concentration due to its unique features:

  • it works over the full Refractive Index (nD) 1.3200–1.5300 measurement range, which corresponds to 0-100 Brix
  • it provides a completely digital Refractive Index optical image detection
  • its measurement is not affected by color, air bubbles, particles, fruit pulp, flow or pressure changes, vibration, or temperature shocks
  • it withstands low and high process temperatures: compact model -40°C...130°C (-40°F...266°F), probe model 40°C...150°C (-40°F...302°F)
  • it is 3-A Sanitary and EHEDG certified in both horizontal and vertical installations
  • it is delivered pre-calibrated and easy to use out of the box
  • it can be installed in small and large pipelines, tanks and vessels without bypass arrangements, vertically or horizontally
  • it is calibrated according to NIST standards and no recalibration is required
  • it can be verified easily on-site according to customer’s own quality control system

 

Applications in beverage manufacturing

Real-time Brix, total solids (TS), Plato, Oechsle, Baume, density and concentration measurements for improved product quality control, recipe management and process data recording, productivity, efficiency and cost savings in a wide range of beverage processing applications such as beer, wine, cider, soft drinks, dairy fluids and infant formula, coffee and tea, ready-to-drink beverages, and organics effluent control (TOC) in wastewater and side-streams.

Download our application notes for more information.

Applications in liquid food manufacturing

Real-time Brix, total solids (TS), density and concentration measurement for quality control and process productivity and efficiency improvement, recipe management and waste reduction in the production of soups, sauces, jams from fruits and vegetables, sweeteners and confectionery products, ready-made desserts, food condiments, fats and oils, fish and meat products, egg products, as well as effluent organics control (TOC) in wastewater and side-streams.

Download our application notes for more information.

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Liquid concentration measurement

Vaisala offers a wide range of products tailored to liquid measuring needs of different industries. 
Learn more about the refractometer technology and its applications, and visit the library of product related assets.

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