Oh Honey! What an ultrasonic device can do… case study
MonoScan enables 24/7 level monitoring of liquid honey for a leading provider of honey products.
The Apiary manufactures and markets natural products based on honey, bees' products and herbs. This company specializes in natural health products based pure honey, recently invested greatly in stateof- the-art equipment for its production line to achieve enhanced performance and output throughout its plant.
The problems
The apiary sought a solution that will enable them to view the honey level stored in various process tanks. The honey is stored in several tanks which are located above the production floor. These metal tanks are about 1.5m (4.9ft) high and are gathered in one room very well heated, to maintain the honey in a liquid state. The overall temperature in the room is quite high and results hot and sticky environment. When using an ultrasonic level measurement device to measure honey during a production process, several aspects should be considered.
The commercial process of honey includes liquefying the substance to allow its bottling. In order to keep the honey in a liquid state, the honey is warmed to a temperature of +40°C (+104°F) by using metal heating pipes that are located at the bottom each tank. In addition, heaters that are located on top of each tank, maintain the same temperature in the environment surrounding the tanks. These obstacles usually cause acoustic interferences that may result wrong measurement readings.
Moreover, a certain degree of humidity should be kept inside the tank to preserve the honey's natural properties during the heating stage. These conditions may cause vapors and sticky droplets on the ultrasonic sensor that eventually may affect the actual performance of the measurement device.
The solution
The engineers of this honey plant installed a MonoScan unit on top of one of its honey tanks. The unit was located on top of an extension pipe, approx. 0.30m (0.98ft) above the tank's cover. Although, the MonoScan is a non-contact, ultrasonic device, it was installed via an extension pipe to allow the plant to maintain proper hygiene and to prevent any possible encounter of the MonoScan with the honey.
A special SW algorithm integrated in the MonoScan was initialized to overcome the acoustic interferences caused by the heating pipes inside the tanks. Since the MonoScan is designed to work in a temperature of up to +70°C (+158°F), it had no difficulties coping with the hot environment inside the tank. In addition, the MonoScan sensor with ECTFE coating prevents the honey droplets from cling to the sensor surface which allows the MonoScan to perform highly across the years.
Summary
The MonoScan L unit installed in the apiary provides constant and accurate measurement results that can be viewed by the plant's control desk, 24/7. The unit enables the plant's engineers a better control over the amount of honey stored in the tanks, thus allowing an enhanced production process.
Moreover, the MonoScan contributes to the ongoing efforts the apiary has been investing in its production facilities to provide high standard products to its customers around the globe.
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