Brewery Flow Meters for Beer and Wine

In the main production processes of beer manufacturing, to effectively control the production process, it is necessary to measure and control intermediate raw materials—wort, semi-finished clear beer, original beer during high-concentration dilution, sterile carbonated water, final product filling, and wastewater generated during production.

Flow meters are used for measuring processes such as crushed water, washing water, filtered wort, chilled wort, clear beer, and bottled beer. However, there are some challenges that make flow measurement in beer and wine production difficult.

One of the challenges is the wide range of viscosity and density of these beverages. This makes accurate flow measurement quite challenging, as the accuracy of different flow meters may vary depending on the specific properties of the product. Another challenge is the corrosiveness of these beverages. Many flow meters are not suitable for corrosive liquids, and using the wrong type of flow meter can result in inaccurate readings or even damage to the flow meter.

Material and product flow measurement in the beer industry's production process is of great importance to many companies, especially the liquid flow measurement instruments used, which differ from those used in general industries and have special requirements. For example, they must prevent bacterial growth, be easy to clean frequently, and withstand high temperatures and corrosive conditions such as alkaline water and hydrogen peroxide disinfection. The specific requirements are as follows:

① The sensor measurement circuit is simple, with no flow-restricting components or areas prone to medium retention.  

② All components in contact with the medium are made of materials compliant with food hygiene standards.  

③ Components in contact with the medium can withstand temperature shocks and corrosion during steam, alkaline water, and hydrogen peroxide cleaning.  

④ When used in filling processes, it must have rapid response performance and high measurement accuracy.

⑤ It can adapt to low-temperature (around 2°C) and humid working environments. Among various liquid flow measurement instruments, electromagnetic flowmeters can meet the above requirements, and their prices have been decreasing, gaining widespread recognition from beer industry users, thereby occupying a significant proportion in practical applications. This article discusses issues related to the selection, operation, and daily maintenance of electromagnetic flowmeters in the beer industry, based on some examples encountered by the author in daily work.

Types of Brewery flow meters

In terms of flowmeter measurement technology, there are many types of flowmeters that can measure Beer and Wine. Commonly used are hygienic or non-contact. For example:

• Electromagnetic Flowmeter

• Sanitary Turbine Flow Meter

• Clamp-on Ultrasonic Flow Meter

• Gear flowmeter, etc.

Electromagnetic Flowmeter For Beer And Wine

The hygienic/sanitary electromagnetic flowmeter adopts new hygienic lining materials and lining technology, which meets the hygienic requirements of the food industry. At the same time, the stainless steel shell and stainless steel clamp are used to connect, which is convenient for quick disassembly and cleaning of the electromagnetic flowmeter.

The electromagnetic flowmeter is not easy to be polluted during use, and can effectively prevent the measured fluid from remaining in the measuring tube. Can be used in Beer and Wine manufacturing process.

Electromagnetic flowmeters can be used in wort flow measurement, boiling, fermentation, and canning processes. Electromagnetic flowmeters are basically used in the beer production process.

In each production line, two electromagnetic flowmeters are needed for proportioning flow control. Generally, the flowmeter for measuring wine is selected to have a caliber of 50-100mm, and the flowmeter for measuring water is selected to be 20-50mm, depending on the scale of production.

Advantages Of Sanitary Electromagnetic Flowmeters

1. Adopt a new type of sanitary lining material to prevent the residue of the measuring medium from accumulating in the measuring tube.

2. The measuring tube has no blocking moving parts and no pressure loss. The straight pipe section has lower requirements.

3. The sensor adopts a new generation of special high-quality lining technology, and uses a special mirror-polished PFA lining.

4. The intelligent converter can display measurement data such as volume flow percentage, instantaneous flow, and cumulative flow.

5. Adopt quick connection scheme. The electromagnetic flowmeter is easy to disassemble, maintain and clean.

6. Intelligent converter LCD backlight LED display. It can read clearly even in strong light or at night.

7. Set parameters through infrared touch buttons. It can be set safely without opening the converter cover in harsh environments.

8. The converter has self-diagnosis alarm, no-load detection alarm, flow upper and lower limit alarm and bipolar flow value alarm output functions.

9. High-definition backlit liquid crystal display. Easy to use, easy to operate, easy to learn and understand.

10. With RS485, RS232, Hart and Modbus digital communication signal output.

Application Of Sanitary Electromagnetic Flowmeters

The sanitary electromagnetic flowmeter is an ideal measurement and control instrument for the sanitary industry. The body of the sanitary electromagnetic flowmeter is made of stainless steel (304 or 316L), and the electrode and lining materials meet the sanitary standard.

• Food

• Beverages

• Alcohol-Beer-Wine

• Pharmaceutical

Ultrasonic Flow Meter for Beer And Wine

Ultrasonic flowmeters measure the fluid flow rate in a pipe. With the sound waves transit time principle to determine the flow rate. Ultrasonic flow meters, with easy installation, could be clamp on, handheld, and portable.

With the remote mount transmitter, Clamp on Ultrasonic Flow Meter, could be applied to a variety of liquid applications.

Including: ultra pure liquids, water, chemicals, raw sewage, reclaimed water, cooling water, river water, plant effluent, alchole, beer, etc.

Ultrasonic Flow Meter Features

1. Accuracy: 1%

2. Ingress protection level: IP67 (transmitter), IP68 (sensor)

3. Wide measurement range, pipe size from DN15mm to DN6000mm.

4. Three installation types: wall mounting, DIN-rail mounting, explosion-proof box mounting

5. Could operate with temperature sensors for heat/energy measurement.

6. Could be installed without shut down equipment operation

Ultrasonic Flow Meter Applications

• Water, sea water,

• Alcohol, Acid and alkali,

• Waste water,beer,

• All kinds of oil Single liquid can transmit sound wave.

Measurement Requirements

After brewing and filtering, the beer is stored in 27 pressurized tanks on site, 7 of which have a capacity of over 200,000 liters. These tanks are located between the production line and the filling line. Before changing the filling bottles/barrels (with different capacities: 20 liters, 30 liters, etc.), it is necessary to know the amount of beer available for filling. Therefore, the customer needs to know the beer levels in each tank to ensure the correct amount of beer is sent to the filling line. Given the wide variety of beer types, this presents a significant challenge.

In the past, the customer used visual level gauges and differential pressure gauges for measurement. These methods were ineffective, required manual operation, and were time-consuming and labor-intensive. Additionally, they did not meet the brewery's hygiene requirements and needed to be replaced.

ARTang Solution

Approximately 30 electromagnetic flowmeters are installed at the inlet and outlet of the storage tank. These instruments are designed for the food and beverage industry and feature sanitary welded connections. Measurement values are transmitted to the process control system via pulse and 4...20 mA outputs. Based on the type of beer, the flow of beer to the filling line is controlled accordingly using functions stored in the control system.