While the snow continues to fall in the U.S. upper Midwest, the cheese producers will be gathering next week at the International Cheese Tech Expo. More than:
…3,500 cheese industry leaders, suppliers, marketers and more will gather to share information about the latest in cheese technology, new products, whey opportunities, product safety, marketing and additional issues affecting our industry.
Emerson’s Vince Massey described how by applying measurements and control along the cheese- and processed cheese-making process can help to reduce product waste, increase throughput and improve overall quality of the cheese.
Some of the key instrumentation and controls include:
- Micro Motion hygienic Coriolis flow and density measurement to monitor in-line fat concentration and air entrainment levels. Smart Meter Verification diagnostics in the meter includes coating detection. This measurement helps identify throughput improvement opportunities and interplant transfers for identifying and correcting potential waste and product quality issues.
- In the molding and ripening area, ASCO Numatics cylinders are designed to operate for easy cleaning to eliminate the risk of food contamination and as part of an ASCO pneumatic integrated sanitary, wash-down rated enclosure solution, provides simplified fluid automation setup and operation.
- In the temperature control and steam management portion of the process, Rosemount 68Q Hygienic temperature sensors and thermowells measure the process to provide the control system accurate reading to maintain control and alert for variable or unsafe temperatures. In the steam system Rosemount 708 wireless acoustic transmitters and Plantweb steam trap insight application, monitor steam traps for energy-wasting leaks.
- In the ripening phase, the hygienically-certified Rosemount TF396 Non-Glass pH sensors provide the accurate measurements to control ripening from bacterial cultures.
- In the packaging phase, Cascade Leak Detection provides 100% testing of packaging sealing and Branson DCX Series ultrasonic blade cutting provides precision cheese cutting and lower maintenance due to limited blade cleaning and sharpening requirements, as well as no bacteria transfers to visible surfaces.
The production of cheese has come a long way and become more efficient by reducing product waste, increasing production throughput and improving the overall quality and consistency using ever-advancing automation and control technology.
If you’ll be in Milwaukee next week at the 2018 International Cheese Technology Expo, visit the Emerson team in booth 1709 to discuss how these technologies can improve your business performance.
