ENVEA SWR Engineering’s moisture-monitoring systems are helping coffee roasters to continue caffeinating Australia.
Roasting coffee beans is a careful and considered process and needs to be precise in order to be consistently reproducible. If the roasting process goes wrong, it can ruin the taste and aroma of coffee that Australians love.
During the roasting processes, beans need to be kept at a specific temperature range and moisture content, which is why a coffee producer reached out to SWR Engineering to help monitor its processes.
The M-Sens 2 is installed onto the coffee roaster to measure the moisture content of the materials conveyed, to determine how much water needs to be injected into the final stage of the roasting process. It helps to regulate temperature to ensure the beans are roasted under precise conditions. Online measurement makes sure that as soon as the moisture content changes, the new set point for the water injection lines is sent, helping to make the process more reliable.
Frank Silberberg, from Group Instrumentation, says the M-Sens has good applications in Australia and can be found in more than just the food industry, but also the minerals and cement industry.
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“Moisture sensors can be used as part of drying control systems to guarantee material moisture as a quality standard, integrate burning processes in order to control fuel injection, or to guarantee the right adherence behaviour for food or many different chemical materials,” he says.
M-Sens 2 has been specifically designed for continuous moisture measurement of solids during matching. It can be used for online moisture measurement of all types of dust, powders, granulates and other bulk solids.
The M-Sens 2’s sensor functionality is based on precise, high-frequency measurement and direct digitalisation of measured values to create high resolution results.
It has a simple installation and calibration process and is resistant to mechanical shocks and abrasion, giving it a long service life.
The sensor can be used in a variety of bulk handling systems, such as screw feeders where the material passes by the sensor window in even intervals with relatively consistent bulk density. On conveyor belts, the sensor can inform the user if the material is too humid or too dry, helping prevent plugging of subsequent aggregates.
Another installation alternative is to mount it on a bin outlet. Due to the constant bulk density in a filled bin, the sensor finds almost unchanging measuring fields for monitoring the residual moisture, helping processes avoid material that is too damp reaching the next production level.
“M-Sens is in constant development,” says Tiago Morais, ENVEA SWR Engineering’s International Sales Manager. “It’s also considered one of our main instruments.
“The M-Sens line now includes a new version, M-Sens 3 with Flow-No Flow detection and material temperature measurement.”