Accurately controlling a dose of sterilant to clean pipework in the food and drink industry is vital to the taste, quality, safety and life of the food or drink being produced, along with the health and wellbeing of the consumer. The ATi Q Series monitors, by Badger Meter, form part of the BlueEdge suite of scalable solutions and offer a range of measurement and control solutions for sterilisation applications within the food and beverage industry.
As with any disinfection system, maintaining reliable residual values is the key to effective pathogen control. To facilitate consistent chemical feed control, the ATI Q46/84 hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and Q46/85 peracetic acid (PAA) monitors by Badger Meter respond rapidly to changes in concentration, enabling operators to monitor and control chemical feed to maintain specific targets.
Historically, the cleaning time of the pipework was more time consuming due to the lack of reliable monitoring equipment. The longer the cleaning process, the more expense incurred due to higher chemical usage and increasing ‘down time’. However, Cleaning-in-Place (CIP) is now a widely used method of cleaning process equipment in the food and drink industry, usually applied daily depending on the production technique and industry. This ensures a consistently high product quality, efficient heat transfer in heat exchangers and reduces the risk of micro-organisms growth.
Sterilants such as hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and peracetic acid (PAA) are used to clean the equipment, using a strength of around 250…350 PPM and stored in large vessels. Once the solution is used, more is made and the vessels are topped up. During the process of ‘topping up’ it has frequently proven difficult to maintain the correct level of chemical strength after multiple uses on site. Colorimetric titration has often been the only method used due to issues with continuous dosing to a set-point (PID control). The risk of not reaching the correct level of PAA or H2O2 could result in the ‘dumping’ of product and then a deep clean, meaning high cost and low output due to down time.
After years of successful monitoring and controlling of PAA and H2O2 at several leading food and drink manufacturers and dairy companies in the UK, the specialist Q Series monitors have proven to be innovative and effective tools that improve efficiency and cost effectiveness on site. After a recent six-month trial of the Q46/85 at a leading food and drink company, the data showed that the sensor required no calibration or maintenance, which is typical of the Q Series range of sensors.
The Q46/85 uses electro-chemical sensing technology to control a continuous dose of peracetic acid during CIP while the Q46/84 hydrogen peroxide monitor is designed to continuously measure the concentration of H2O2 in aqueous systems. Â The sensors used in both solutions can be connected via analogue output or PID control to a dosing pump for continuous monitoring and control to a specific set-point. With a range of digital communication protocols such as Profibus and Modbus available, each system can be tailor made to create a bespoke monitoring solution individual to each customer and application.
For further information on our leading-edge range of water quality, sterilisation and gas detection solutions suitable for food and beverage applications, please visit our product website.
