Process Refractometers Maintain Product Quality in Commercial Food and Beverage Production

Process Refractometer (sensor)
(Electron Machine Corp.)

All commercial food products are selected on the basis of quality, freshness and affordability. Varying product quality is the best way to lose brand-loyal customers. Quality and consistency can be different between brands, but they cannot vary within a brand.

Manufacturers of juices, jellies, honey, wine, and carbonated beverages rely on the measurement of "Brix" to control product quality and consistency. Brix (symbol °Bx) is defined as 1 gram of sucrose in 100 grams of solution, and represents the strength of the solution as percentage by mass.

Examples of food and beverage products that need to carefully measure sucrose, fructose, and dextrose include soft drinks, fruit juices, dairy, apple sauces, jams, jellies, beer, wine, coffee, tea, vegetable oils, tomato products, and honey.  To do this, a device known as a refractometer is used to measure Brix (as well as other dissolved solids).

In smaller food and beverage applications, the refractometer is a handheld device used for batch sampling, but for high volume commercial processing, a more robust and heavy duty "process refractometers" is used. Sometimes referred to as "inline refractometers", these process instruments provide real-time, continuous measurement of Brix and dissolved solids.

Process Refractometer with
sensor mounted on sanitary
pipe shown with control box.
(Electron Machine Corp.)

This category of process refractometer is designed to provide very accurate and repeatable measurement for products flowing through a pipe or mixing in a vessel. They are designed to handle higher temperatures, resist contamination and corrosion, and they respond very quickly to any process deviation.

A process refractometer works by shining an LED light source from a range of angles, through a product sample, onto a prism surface. By measuring the difference in the reflection and refraction of the light source, a critical angle can be determined and the refractive index can be accurately calculated.  This measurement and calculation can be done accurately, repeatably, and quickly, making process refractometers the de-facto standard for the measurement of Brix in high production  food processing applications.

For more information on the use of process refractometers in food and beverage production, visit this link.

Get to Know Electron Machine Corporation

Electron Machine Corporation, headquartered Umatilla, FL, manufactures industrial, inline, process refractometers. As a vertically-integrated manufacturer, we have complete control over the time it takes to manufacture our instruments providing the highest levels of service and support to our customers. Superb quality control is attained by adapting modern technology and practices to existing designs. These include in-house microprocessor and DSP software design, surface-mount PC card design and assembly, 3D CAD/CAM designing, CNC machining, and MIG/TIG welding. Additionally, our founder's innovative nature is still with us as we continue to research and develop new products.

Learn more about Electron Machine at https://www.electronmachine.com or by calling 352-669-3101.

Hybrid-Digital Process Refractometer

Process refractometers are used for monitoring, controlling, and recording the concentration of dissolved solids in a process media. They accurately measure refractive index and temperature of the process media and provide a visual display in units specific to that process (i.e. Brix, Percent Solids, Dissolved Solids, SGU, R.I.).

The MPR E-Scan is a hybrid-digital critical angle refractometer. It is used to measure the refractive index of process fluids and may be used as an error indicator or an integral part of a complete process control system.

The MPR E-Scan is calibrated and temperature compensated to your process specifications. It is ready for installation and immediate use when received. Calibration procedures are available to change system parameters and allow the refractometer to measure different process fluids.

How It Works: Hybrid-Digital Measurement

Energy radiated from the LED passes through the prism surface to be reflected off a mirror to the prism-to-process interface. The light reaching this interface intersects the same interface over a series of angles specifically chosen to include the critical angle (Ic) for the process being measured. Light intersect- ing the interface at an angle greater than critical angle is refracted into the solution. Light intersecting the interface at less than critical angle is reflected up out of the prism up to the digital CCD linear array to be scanned.

The resolution of each sensing head is maximized by selecting the angle of the prism for the measurement and temperature range of the process.

MPR E-Scan

The MPR E-Scan refractometer utilizes a hybrid-digital measurement principle. The CCD (charged coupled device) in the sensing head digitally measures the refractive index of the process. Any change in critical angle changes the ratio of light to dark periods. The digital measurement is temperature compensated and converted to a variable voltage by rugged electronic devices in the sensing head. This allows the relatively sensitive micro-processor driven devices to be located in the electronics console where more protection from the process can be provided. The signal is then further enhanced and displayed as a reading in refractive index, Brix, solids, percent, or other measurement unit. This combination of state-of-the-art micro-processors combined with tried-and-true analog components provides a high-level of accuracy along with the rugged dependability required for years of use when installed in harsh industrial environments.

Isolation Valve Adapter and Safeguard Tool Demonstration

Plant personnel safety is extremely important to Electron Machine. Our Isolation Valve Adapter has a proven track record for safety and reliability for safe removal of our process refactometer sensing heads from a pressurized pipeline. Continuing toward our goal for absolute safety, EMC designed and developed the EMC Safeguard Tool, a device designed to further increase safety should abnormal situations arise when removing a sensing head from the process pipe line. Check out the demonstration below for a full understanding.

For more information, visit http://www.electronmachine.com or call 352-669-3101.