Brewery level control with the Siemens Sitrans LR250 HEA

Brewery level control with the Siemens Sitrans LR250 HEA

The brewing industry faces a host of challenges today, one of which is the strict conditions of the EHEDG Aseptic, controlling hygiene measures in the manufacture and packaging of foodstuffs. This includes precise determination of the contents of pressure tanks before bottling, as well as the contents of fermentation and storage tanks.

To combat these challenges, the brewing industry is becoming more and more sophisticated in recent years thanks to ongoing innovations in technology.

In the past, sectors like the brewing industry have mainly used ultrasound sensors with direct product contact to determine the level contents in pressure tanks, fermentation tanks and storage tanks. However, the Siemens Sitrans LR250 HEA (Hygienic Encapsulated Antenna) became the first radar level transmitter to be certified as aseptic in accordance with the rules of the EHEDG (European Hygienic Engineering & Design Group). Through implementing radar technology, the Sitrans LR250 HEA does not come into contact with the product when installed, ensuring the highest level of hygiene in this area.

Before Siemens released this product into the market, the Sitrans LR250 HEA went through a vigorous testing phase at the research brewery of the Technical University of Munich in Weihenstephan, Bavaria.

Testing the Siemens Sitrans LR250 HEA 

The Siemens Sitrans LR250 HEA was put through its paces with a variety of technical tests, carried out across three fermentation and storage tanks equipped with a Sitrans LR250 HEA with different process connections.

Due to the increasing variety in styles of beer, the team at the Weihenstephan Research Brewery used the tanks to brew all possible styles of beer during testing. Ensuring the performance of the radar level transmitter was accurate across the board for the whole beer brewing sector.

Testing confirmed that due to the dynamic envelope-curve algorithm, the sensors were able to deliver precise measurements even when layers of foam were present in the tanks.

As the Sitrans LR250 HEA was designed to be a non-contact level measurement instrument, this meant there were no microbiological abnormalities or accretions throughout the entire testing process. Plus, the material used to fully encapsulate the antenna is especially smooth due to the use of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) which has a surface roughness of less than 0.8 µ.

Project Head at Siemens Process Automation in Peterborough/Canada, Robert Gray states, “In further developing our field-proven radar level transmitter, we were aware of the specific requirements of the brewing industry, so we placed particular value on the hygienic enclosure of the antenna, and on the variety of process connections. It was also important to us that the new sensor should be especially easy to maintain and to repair, if it should come to that”.

It is down to Siemens innovations and the results of this rigorous testing that the Sitrans LR250 HEA became the first radar level transmitter to acquire Aseptic certification in accordance with the strict rules of EHEDG.

Deeper look at the Sitrans LR250 HEA