Dairy cooperative Arla Foods has created transparency over the energy consumed in cottage cheese production at its Falkenberg (Sweden) location. This involves the use of the Baumer Flex-Flow sensor, which is able to measure the temperature of the medium as well as the flow rate. Arla installed these sensors at the neuralgic points in the cooling and heating system and used the measurement results to obtain a clear image of the energy consumption.
The FlexFlow also meets the requirements for protection class IP 68 (Baumer proTect+), making this sensor, together with the materials used, ideal for hygienic applications. Another feature is its maximum temperature range to 150ºC, which also qualifies it for sterilization-in-process (SIP) tasks.
Arla has installed around 15 of these flow sensors in the cooling circuit and heating system. The plan is to also integrate the sensors into the CIP return line to monitor and optimize the energy consumption there as well.
