Inline measurement and automation for food processing
Zutora - The engineering partner for inline measurement and automation in food production.
Zutora helps food producers monitor and control key process parameters such as concentration, dry solids, moisture, color, turbidity, pH, temperature and flow. We combine industrial instruments, small and medium-scale automation, operator interfaces and data logging into practical process solutions.
What we help improve
Product consistency
Monitor key quality parameters continuously to reduce variation between batches, shifts or production lines.
Process visibility
Replace delayed or manual checks with real-time inline measurement, trends and alarms.
Automation of process units
Automate smaller and medium-scale systems such as dosing, blending, heating, cooling, filtration, concentration or cleaning processes.
Energy efficiency
Improve the control of energy-intensive process steps such as heating, cooling, evaporation, drying and CIP by using reliable inline measurements, automation and process data.
Reduced manual sampling
Inline instruments can reduce dependence on manual sampling and provide faster feedback for operators.
Data logging and reporting
Record process values, alarms and events for troubleshooting, quality review and production documentation.
Solutions for food processing
Inline concentration and Brix measurement
Concentration is one of the most important measurements in food production. Inline refractometers can provide continuous Brix or concentration measurement in liquids such as syrups, juices, sauces, dairy streams, sugar solutions and other dissolved-solids applications.
Zutora helps select, install and integrate concentration measurement systems into production lines, tanks or process skids.
Typical applications:
Sugar syrups
Fruit juices and concentrates
Soft drink and beverage production
Dairy concentration
Sauces and liquid food products
Evaporation and blending processes
Cleaning solution concentration, where applicable
Moisture and dry solids measurement
Moisture and dry solids are critical parameters in many food processes, especially where drying, evaporation, powder handling or product consistency are important.
Depending on the application, Zutora can integrate microwave, NIR or other suitable measurement technologies for continuous moisture or solids monitoring.
Typical applications:
Dry solids in process streams
Moisture in powders or bulk materials
Total solids in slurries or suspensions
Evaporation endpoint monitoring
Drying process optimization
Product consistency control
Color and turbidity monitoring
Color, turbidity and optical absorption can provide valuable information about product quality, filtration performance, dilution, clarification and process consistency.
Process photometers can be used for inline color, absorbance or turbidity monitoring in selected food applications.
Typical applications:
Juice color monitoring
Beverage color consistency
Turbidity after filtration
Clarification monitoring
Product changeover detection
Dilution or concentration-related optical trends
pH, ORP, DO and analytical measurements
Many food processes require reliable electrochemical or analytical measurements for process control, product quality or cleaning systems. Zutora can integrate pH, ORP, dissolved oxygen, conductivity, temperature and other process values into automation or monitoring systems.
Typical applications:
pH control
CIP monitoring
Conductivity-based phase separation
Dissolved oxygen monitoring
Fermentation-related measurements
Cleaning and rinsing verification
Dosing control
Small and medium-scale automation
Many food producers need automation that is more flexible and practical than a large factory-wide control system, but more capable than a simple local controller. Zutora designs and implements small and medium-scale automation systems for process units, skids and production lines.
We can combine PLC control, HMI screens, inline measurement, alarms, recipes, data logging and communication with existing plant systems.
Typical automation projects:
Dosing systems
Blending systems
Heating and cooling control
Filtration or separation skids
Evaporation or concentration units
CIP-related control
Pump, valve and tank automation
Standalone measurement panels
Data collection and reporting systems
Key capabilities:
PLC programming
HMI/operator interface design
Sensor and analyzer integration
Alarm handling
Recipe management
Data logging
Remote diagnostics where permitted
Communication with existing systems
Application areas in food production
Beverages and juices
Brix, color, turbidity, dilution, concentration and product changeover monitoring.
Dairy and liquid foods
Concentration, dry solids, temperature, pH and process consistency monitoring.
Sauces, syrups and sweeteners
Brix, viscosity-related process indicators, blending, heating and concentration control.
Powders and bulk materials
Moisture, dry solids and product consistency monitoring using suitable inline technologies.
Fermentation and biological processes
pH, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, temperature and related process measurements.
CIP and cleaning systems
Conductivity, concentration, temperature, pH and phase separation monitoring.
Products and technologies for food processing
Process refractometers
Continuous Brix and concentration measurement for liquids and dissolved-solids applications.
Microwave solids sensors
Dry substance and total solids measurement for selected liquid, slurry or suspension applications.
NIR moisture sensors
Moisture and dry solids measurement for powders, solids and suitable process streams.
Process photometers
Inline color, turbidity and absorption measurement for product quality and filtration monitoring.
pH, ORP, DO and conductivity sensors
Analytical measurements for production, fermentation, cleaning and utility processes.
Automation systems
PLC, HMI, data logging and control solutions for small and medium-scale food process applications.
MT-1 Multichannel Transmitter
A flexible platform for displaying, trending, logging and exporting data from multiple inline analyzers.