Catalogs >
AMETEK MOCON >
Optimize Butter Production

Optimize Butter Production
3Pages

Catalog excerpts

APPLICATION NOTE OPTIMIZE BUTTER PRODUCTION BY CONTROLLING CONSTITUENTS CLOSER TO TARGETS In-line analysis of butter to control the levels of fat, moisture and salt Butter is manufactured from cream with a fat level at approximately 40%. The cream is added to the churn and tumbled or churned until a curd is formed. This curd is then kneaded to produce a smooth texture. During the kneading process water, or brine in the case of salted butter, is added to adjust the product to the legally required minimum of 80% fat. The churn operator or butter maker has the task to maintain the levels of fat and moisture and in salted butter, salt. The quality manager has responsibilities to maintain product uniformity and quality of the product. With large amount of butter being produced by the continuous churns, a large amount of loss can occur very rapidly if the fat level falls below 80%. On the other hand, there can be a great amount of product “give-away” by overcompensating the level of fat to ensure its minimum of 80% i.e., running high at 81-82%. The challenge is to maintain the fat level at 80%+ without going below or being too high and loosing money by giving fat away. With most butter production facilities now using continuous churns, the capacity has increased toward 30,000 lb. of butter per hour, producing a great amount of butter over a shorter period. To take advantage of this higher volume, tighter controls of production must be maintained. In salted butter, the salt level must also be maintained at approximately 1.5% depending on the butter type and manufacturer. If too high or too low the taste is affected. ProSpect real time in-line analysis of butte

Open the catalog to page 1

OPTMIZED BUTTER PRODUCTION IN-LINE MEASUREMENT APPLICATION NOTE Solution The ProSpect In-line Process NIR simultaneously measures the levels of fat, moisture and salt in butter at the outlet of the working section of the continuous churn. This data is displayed on the main terminal as well as the trends for each of the constituents. It also outputs the results via plant Ethernet (or 4-20mA analogue) to the churn process control. SALTED BUTTER ANALYSIS STATISTICS UNSALTED BUTTER ANALYSIS STATISTICS • R2 = The correlation between the lab reference value and the ProSpect predicted value • EP =...

Open the catalog to page 2

OPTMIZED BUTTER PRODUCTION BENEFITS Benefits APPLICATION NOTE The ProSpect is a fully integrated system with: The ProSpect in-line butter analyzer’s proven performance demonstrates the advantage of real time analysis for quality process control. With this performance, the operator has the ability to move the product constituents closer to specification. The customer can then realize a rapid return on investment, typically < 12 months and continuing overall profit. • Built-in process computer with touch screen interface • Built-in PLC which includes bi-lateral communication to the plant PLC....

Open the catalog to page 3