Bioproducts®, a leading developer and marketer of nutritional feed ingredients and pet food palatability products headquartered in Fairlawn, Ohio, is committed to cutting edge manufacturing and state-of-the-art processing facilities to meet exacting customer needs. As part of that commitment, Bioproducts Plant Engineer Terry Pepper permanently installed three Raytek TX stainless steel noncontact infrared (IR) sensors above the production area in February 2004. One is used to measure the mixing area and two are used in the reaction areas.
The TX sensors are exposed to organic fumes that condense on exposed surfaces, and dust that can adhere to surfaces. Fumes and dust are not welcome in feed processing plants, which have to meet extremely high sanitation requirements, even for animals. Although he has not yet had to do an acid clean of the equipment, when he does he will remove the sensors and clean them with acid.
"We specified the stainless steel sensors not so much for corrosion resistance during operation, but, rather, to allow the use of strong acids for cleaning," he explained. The sensors are used to monitor reaction and cooling temperatures, which range from ambient to boiling. The information they provide is fed into the plant's control system and appears on the plant operator's control screens.
"This allows control of the operation from our control room without requiring the operator to manually measure temperatures with hand-held IR guns," he said.
Pepper is experimenting with a number of air-swept devices. These instruments sweep air across or through the IR sensors to maintain a clear surface. He added that the air purging has worked well in keeping the sensor lenses clear of the organic and dust coating. In the past, Pepper and his crew used handheld IR sensors to measure temperatures, but he was looking for something that would allow the operator to manage the manufacturing process from a remote control room and directly relay the information collected into the plant's computer control system for management purposes.
While he hasn't put a dollar value on the return on investment as a result of the use of the new TX sensor installations, Pepper is pleased with the ability to better manage the operation.
"This was our first experience with air-swept equipment and has given us hopes that we can use other air-swept devices, such as cameras, to increase monitoring of our process," he added.
Noted by Kate McGuire, Raytek Corporation