Confectionery industry and how Rotronic Instruments products are involved
24 May 2012
|
Confectionery in general
Facts & figures:
In 2008/09, 165.547 million tons of sugar were consumed!
In Europe and the Americas, people consume around 40 kg a year.
The world average being 20 kg a year per person.
Fruit gums are made by dissolving sugar in water or milk to form a syrup, which is boiled until it reaches the desired concentration or starts to caramelise.
The fruit gum type depends on the ingredients and how long the mixture is boiled. The final texture depends on the sugar concentration. As the syrup is heated, it boils, water evaporates, the sugar concentration increases and the boiling point rises. A given temperature corresponds to a particular sugar concentration.
In general, higher temperatures and greater sugar concentrations result in hard, brittle sweets and lower temperatures result in softer sweets.
Around the world today, Haribo produces in excess of 100 million ‘Golden Bears’ every day.
Trays are filled with a flattened heap of fine powdery starch. The Golden Bear form is then pressed into the starch. The negative forms are transported to production where the fruit gum mixture is poured into the starch moulds.
After a long drying process the sweets get a final coating of bees wax and carnauba wax, giving them a shiny look and keeps them from sticking.
Why the need to measure humidity?
In the confectionery industry, there is a need to measure humidity, during drying, storage & packaging being the main ones.
1) Other ingredients included in sweets are: glucose syrup, dextrose, flavouring, citric acid. Glucose syrup is highly hygroscopic, so when placed in a high humidity environment, the product will absorb moisture.
How many of us have unwrapped a sweet and found it sticking to the wrapper? This is an example of the effect of humidity during the storage of the finished product, but if this was to happen during the production process, the sweet would then stick to everything: the machinery, other sweets...
2) Moisture gain in the product will also affect the shelf life. It may also favour the growth of different micro organisms depending on the total water activity of the free moisture.
3) Confectionery storage rooms must also be monitored in order to avoid issues during the different seasons: at high temperatures, the sweets may lose their form, colour and taste among other properties.
4) In order to re-use the starch in the production process, the starch is recovered, sieved and conveyed into a dryer in order to condition it for the manufacturing process.
What solution can Rotronic offer?
The heart of the humidity measurement is the Rotronic capacitive foil sensor: HygroMer IN-1.
The AirChip3000 is the brains: combining an ASIC, a microcontroller and an EE-PROM memory.
All products with this logo contain an AirChip3000.
AirChip3000 advantages:
* Relative humidity, tempera- ture and dew point outputs
* Can store 2,000 points
* Sensor self-test function And much, much more...
Rotronic products:
Humidity and temperature probes:
* HC2-IM102 -100...200 °C, 0...100 %rh, Ø15 mm, ±0.8 %rh and ±0.1 K...
* HC2-S -50...100 °C, 0...100 %rh, Ø15 mm,±0.8 %rh and ±0.1 K...
* HC2-C05 -40...85 °C, 0...100 %rh, Ø5 mm, ±1.5 %rh and ±0.3 K...
Transmitters:
* HF5 series
For interchangeable probes, 2 or 3/4 wire configuration, Various analogue and digital outputs, Display, All psychrometric calculations available...
* HF7 series Stainless steel probe, -100...200 °C, 3/4 wire configuration, Various analogue outputs, Display...
Data loggers:
* HL-NT range For interchangeable probes (up to 7 probes with docking station) 32 MB flash card,
Display, Conform to FDA21 CFR Part 11 and GAMP4...
* HL-20 20,000 measurement pairs, Display, ±0.8 %rh and ±0.2 K, Conforms to FDA21CFR Part 11 and GAMP4...
Customer benefits:
Accuracy:
Choosing Rotronic gives you the best accuracy on the market.
Precise humidity measure- ments can be obtained: meaning that as soon as the required temperature, humidity and moisture conditions are achieved the controller will switch off dryers, humidifiers etc.
How is this better for the manufacturing process?
The sooner dryers and dehumidifiers are switched off, the less power will be consumed saving energy costs.
From the product perspective , if the humidity level is critical and defines the ‘softness’ and ‘hardness’ of the sweet, then the more accurate the measurement and the better the end result!
Communication:
Networking with Rotronic is an easy affair! With all the different communication methods offered, from RS-485, Wireless to Ethernet RJ-45, Rotronic can provide a solution.
Long-term stability:
With long-term sensor drift of less than 1%rh per year (depending on the environment), Rotronic offers the possibility to “plug & play”: simply install the instrument. We recommend spot checks between annual calibrations to confirm performance.
Calibration:
To calibrate humidity sensors, humidity standards are available with calibration devices. We can also supply the HygroGen humidity and temperature generator.
For comprehensive information on humidity and temperature measurements contact:
Rotronic Instruments (UK) Ltd
Web: www.rotronic.co.uk
Tel: 01293 571000
Email: instruments@rotronic.co.uk
|
|
