Food Manufacturing

High-performance desiccant air dryers are energy-efficient

Atlas Copco is launching three new ranges of energy-efficient desiccant air dryer that are designed to ensure a reliable source of high-quality, dry compressed air to meet the needs of demanding applications. The new dryer ranges are particularly suitable for industries such as electronics, food and beverage, pharmaceuticals, and oil and gas processing, where using the highest quality compressed air is vital. The three ranges use desiccants to adsorb moisture from the compressed air, thereby protecting production process equipment and helping to maintain the end product quality.

29th January 2011

DualVee Swaged Integral Studded Wheels for hostile environments

HepcoMotion is introducing DualVee Swaged Integral Studded Wheels in concentric and eccentric designs. These are the latest additions to the company's DualVee Motion Technology (DMT), which is typically used in anti-friction guidance systems - such as pick-and-place units and packaging machinery - not requiring the ultra-high precision offered by the HepcoMotion GV3 System.

28th January 2011

LNG tanks rely on ABB instrumentation

Temperature and pressure sensors from ABB's UK Measurement Products business are helping to maintain safety at the world's largest above ground liquid natural gas (LNG) tanks at National Grid's Isle of Grain terminal. The four tanks, each holding 200,000m3 of LNG, are 50 metres high, larger than the Albert Hall. They form Phase 2 and 3 of an expansion plan that will eventually see the site capable of supplying 20% of the UK's gas demand.

28th January 2011

Enamel coated pH sensors offer advantages over glass technology

Improved pH monitoring holds the key to increased quality, reduced cost and higher yield in high-end hygienic processing.

28th January 2011

Country park powered by Archimedes screw

Inverters from Control Techniques are behind the first UK hydrodynamic screw generator, sited in Dartmoor National Park.

28th January 2011

Double diaphragm system monitors for diaphragm breakage

WIKA has developed a double diaphragm system for reliable pressure measurement in critical processes in industries such as chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and food and beverage.

14th January 2011

Smart drives benefit from onboard motion control programming

Baldor Electric's MicroFlex e100 and MotiFlex e100 single- and three-phase smart drives benefit from Mint Lite programming capability as well as Powerlink compatibility. These drives are now offered in a broad choice of power ratings up to 65A, which is major increase over the maximum 33.5A that was available when the ranges were first announced in 2010. The versatile drives may be used to control rotary and linear servo motors, linear motors, closed-loop vector motors, and in V/Hz control modes.

30th December 2010

The drive for precision geo-positioning

One of the world's most advanced survey vessels features bow and stern thrusters powered by Control Techniques modular AC drives to achieve position accuracy of ±1m.

29th November 2010

Measuring the rotation angle of large diameter shafts

Traditional rotary encoders can be readily fitted to shaft diameters of less than 2in, but what happens if your design needs a much larger diameter shaft or bore? Mark Howard of Zettlex describes the traditional approach and a new, more accurate approach.

22nd November 2010

Vision system ensures carton caps are spot on

Vision technology from Cognex has replaced a simple pass/fail height sensor of a capping machine to provide more accurate information not only on whether or not the cap is present, but also on the actual position of the cap, giving increased quality.

22nd November 2010