Food-grade inductive sensors withstand high-pressure wash-down cleaning

Summary

Food-grade wash-down inductive sensors from Swiss manufacturer Contrinex are completely compatible with the strict hygiene standards of the dairy industry, helping maximize plant utilization during round-the-clock production of milk-based foodstuffs. Rated to IP68/IP69K, Contrinex stainless-steel wash-down sensors withstand both aggressive cleaning chemicals and high-pressure water jets, offering highly robust solutions for the harshest operating environments. Food-grade sensors are available with IO-Link, a standardized serial connection protocol, providing digital communication in wash-down areas at no additional cost.

Application

Cleanliness is everything in food-processing facilities, and nowhere more so than in the dairy industry. A single instance of contamination during production can necessitate the destruction of multiple batches of milk-based foodstuffs - or, if undetected, result in illness, disease or death among consumers of infected products. It’s no surprise that for dairy-plant operators, maintaining the strictest possible hygiene standards is an absolute must. Given the simultaneous need to maximize plant utilization, time-consuming cleaning methods are highly undesirable. To avoid lengthy unproductive intervals between batches, food-processing facilities commonly utilize clean-in-place (CIP) and high-pressure wash-down systems. Production equipment for wash-down areas must therefore withstand both aggressive cleaning chemicals and high-pressure water jets as a matter of course. This requirement extends to the sensors used throughout these areas.

Solution

The Contrinex Wash-down range of food-grade inductive sensors addresses these needs perfectly. Devices from both the Series 600 Classics and Series 700 Full Inox families are certified to operate continuously and reliably in harsh conditions. Rated to IP68/IP69K, they are pressure-resistant up to 80 bar, corrosion-resistant and ideal for use in food and beverage industries. Sensing the presence and detecting the position of equipment or materials at each stage requires sensors that are both accurate and responsive. Contrinex Wash-down inductive sensors are up to the task in all respects. With a choice of one-piece M12-, M18- or M30-diameter AISI 316L /V4A stainless steel bodies and sensing faces (Full Inox family) or M12-diameter AISI 316L/V4A stainless-steel body and PPS (polyphenylene sulfide) FDA-approved sensing face (Classics family), these fully embeddable inductive sensors offer a highly robust solution for the harshest operating environment. Industry-standard PNP or NPN outputs with an integral M12 connector and IP69K-rated cable set ensure compatibility with existing factory systems. Flow control during milk-product processing Most milk products, whether made from pasteurized or raw milk, undergo a number of common manufacturing operations during the early stages of production. Central to these are two aspects of process manufacture that require reliable, accurate flow-control systems: transportation and CIP. In each case, food-grade wash-down inductive sensors ensure that the correct operating sequence is followed. Process engineers use dedicated stainless-steel pipework to transport liquid ingredients from one operation to the next. Typically, fluid flow is managed using control valves fitted with electrical, hydraulic or pneumatic actuators. Depending on process requirements, two-way or multi-port valves, often rotary-shaft types, deliver raw milk from holding tanks to each process station in sequence, maintaining specified flow rates and volumetric limits.