Müller® installs BATCHFLUX flowmeters from KROHNE - and then orders more!

Müller, the UK?s leading yogurt brand, has reduced overfill of its Müller Corner® products by 84 per cent by installing KROHNE?s BATCHFLUX electromagnetic flowmeters. The company has since ordered additional instruments for installation on a second production line.
At the Müller Corner® production line in Shropshire, pots are filled at the rate of 276 per minute, 24 hours per day. The company needed to ensure that each of the 400,000 yoghurt pots filled per day is not underfilled - but also needed to ensure overfill was reduced to a minimum to lower production costs.

Previously the company used flowmeters, which were not sufficiently accurate and were costly and time consuming to repair. Since it has installed KROHNE?s BATCHFLUX flowmeters, overfill has been reduced to an average of under 0.5 gm per pot ? which is approximately eight times better than previously achieved.

The yoghurt flows through stainless steel pipes from storage tanks into a hopper and is then pressure fed through the flowmeters where it is dosed into each pot. A pulsed output is taken from the BATCHFLUX which equates to one millilitre of yoghurt for every ten pulses. Pulses are fed to a plc which counts the pulses and controls the rate at which yoghurt is dosed into pots.

Designed to achieve maximum reproducibility when used in conjunction with filling machines, the BATCHFLUX is perfectly suited for high reliability food applications. It can measure both liquids and liquids that contain solids. The FDA approved instrument has no moving parts and its high purity aluminium oxide ceramic flowtube is hygienically smooth.

?KROHNE?s BATCHFLUX flowmeters have enabled us to control production more accurately and reduce our production costs,? said Dave Fowles, form, fill and seal specialist at Müller. ?Because we operate a 24 hour shift, 365 days a year, high reliability is also critical for us.

?Since they were installed, the flowmeters have operated faultlessly which has given us the confidence to order more for a second production line.

?Initially we assessed other makers of flowmeters but we found the BATCHFLUX to be the simplest to use and it was competitively priced.?

Information: KROHNE Messtechnik GmbH & Co. KG, Thomas Zimmerling,
E-Mail: TZimmerling@krohne.de

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