Advanced instrumentation technologies provide versatility in food and beverage applications
As more advanced instruments are available with hygienic configurations, processors find new ways to use these capabilities to improve plant performance
In the food and beverage industry, any process instrument used for temperature, pressure, flow or level measurement that contacts product must meet hygienic requirements designed to provide cleanable surfaces and avoid areas capable of retaining contaminants or facilitating bacteria growth. These rules exist for good reason, but until recently machinery and process designers had to settle for workable but basic instrumentation due to the limited configurations available for meeting sanitary requirements.
This has left some food and beverage processors envious of users in conventional chemical processing industries where sophisticated instrumentation is a critical link in enabling advanced process control, automation, data collection and analysis to help improve production, product quality and plant profitability.