Data Acquisition for Milk and Dairy Pasteurization

Measure, record, analyze, and present real-world phenomena for the Grade “A” Pasteurized Milk Ordinance (PMO) with Yokogawa’s best-in-class panel mount paperless recorders.

 

Application

Pasteurization is a heat-treatment process that destroys pathogenic microorganisms in certain foods and beverages. It also eliminates most of the microorganisms that cause spoilage and, thus, prolongs food storage time. Food and beverage manufacturers must ensure and demonstrate that products undergoing pasteurization meet the strict requirements of international standards to be deemed safe for human consumption. Otherwise, they could be subject to significant penalties.

Depending on the product, there are specific requirements for the temperature and amount of hold time required to ensure the product is safe. There are two main types of pasteurization processes:

1. High-Temperature Short Time (HTST)

The product is placed between metal plates or within pipes and heated by hot water to 72°C (161 °F) for 15 seconds.

2. Ultra-Heat Treating (UHT)

The product is placed between metal plates or within pipes and heated by hot water to 140°C (284 °F) for 4 seconds.

In the United States, the Grade “A” Pasteurized Milk Ordinance (PMO) outlines the relevant standards and regulations for the pasteurization process. It is administered by the Food and Drug Administration in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 

Challenges

Paper chart recorders are commonly used in PMO applications to collect temperature data of liquid passing through the pasteurization system. Although innovative for its time, paper chart recorders have become difficult to maintain and time-consuming. Operators must manually retrieve paper charts periodically and archive them for audit and compliance with no redundant backup if the paper chart is lost. Furthermore, paper chart recorders lack network connection capability that provides flexible digital data transfer and redundancy. In addition, paper chart recorders cannot provide the temperature resolution compared to a digital data acquisition system. 

Solution

Yokogawa's best-in-class panel mount paperless recorders are fully integrated data acquisition and display stations with secure, built-in data storage and network connectivity. Panel-mount solutions are NEMA compliant and integrate the data acquisition equipment into a control panel. Yokogawa's paperless recorder lineup meets rigorous industry standards such as PMO, HTST, and FDA 21 CFR Part 11.

Design

Yokogawa's SMARTDAC+ GX series paperless recorder series is the first in its class to offer multi-touch panel technology. To improve intuitive and intelligent operator control, users can scroll, zoom and pan historical data and even write freehand messages on its dust-proof and waterproof display. The G.X. complies with IP65 and NEMA 4 standards, as it can withstand harsh environments of dust and wash down. The protective sheets on the touch panel display have a special coating on the front and back to prevent damage from scratches, chemicals, and solvents while maintaining high display clarity and resistance to light interference.

Functionality

Measured and calculated data is continuously saved to secure internal non-volatile memory. At manual or scheduled intervals, the files in memory are copied to the removable media. In addition, the files can be copied and archived to an FTP server. The G.X. supports up to 32 G.B. of external S.D. memory. With the advanced security function option, G.X. supports FDA 21 CFR Part 11 regulation. It gives the user access to a login function that requires usernames, I.D.s, and passwords. Furthermore, the G.X. supports electronic signatures, audit trails, and an anti-tampering function, another security feature that meets or exceeds the requirements of CFR Part 11.

Through a web browser, the user can monitor the G.X. in real-time and change settings. The user can also quickly build a seamless, low-cost remote monitoring system with no additional software. Data files saved on the G.X. can be viewed and printed. Statistical computations over an area can be exported to ASCII, Excel, or PDF.

Four alarm levels can be configured for each analog input. In addition, each alarm can be assigned to a digital output relay (e.g., open/close a valve, sound an alarm horn, etc.).

A typical paperless recorder installed on a pasteurization process may utilize the following inputs:

• Input 1: Hot temperature (with alarm triggering the divert valve position)
• Input 2: Cold temperature
• Input 3: Divert valve position

Key Advantages

• Data analysis is mobile and straightforward with intelligent functionality.
• Provides intuitive, human-centric design, web-enabled functionality, and scalable architecture.
• Advanced security and wireless communication functions are included.
• The user can draw predicted future waveforms with the user-defined report creation tool.
• Viewer software for data analysis with browser-based real-time monitoring is included.
• Centralized data management via an FTP server and powerful networking functions are standard.

SMARTDAC+ Data Acquisition & Control | Yokogawa