Effective Instrumentation Solutions for the Pet Food Industry

The pet food industry faces significant challenges in meeting regulatory requirements amidst rapid market growth. As pets become more integrated into families and the prevalence of emotional support animals increases, consumer expectations for pet food are rising. This humanization of pets, coupled with the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), underscores the need for stringent product quality and traceability. The industry's growth exacerbates these challenges, making precise measurement and control essential to minimize product loss and maintain quality.

Inventory Management

Accurate measurement of raw materials and finished products is crucial throughout the pet food manufacturing process. This accuracy impacts everything from silo inventory levels and material feed rates to the dispensing of finished products for packaging. Ensuring precise measurements can lead to reduced operating costs, increased yields, and minimized downtime, thereby enhancing overall productivity.

The initial stage of pet food production involves managing raw material inventory to ensure smooth and efficient operations. Inaccurate measurements at this stage can lead to delays, production interruptions, and material losses, which are increasingly critical given the rising costs of raw materials like soybeans and corn.

Utilizing proven technologies and working with knowledgeable instrument suppliers can help secure reliable measurements. However, understanding the behavior of materials inside silos, bins, or hoppers is equally important. Factors such as material flowability, silo wall friction, and moisture content can impact measurement accuracy. Therefore, selecting the right technology—whether non-contact level measurement or static weighing—is crucial.

High-frequency radar technology has evolved to provide non-contact measurement solutions for tall silos and dusty environments, while also offering installation flexibility when ideal process connections are lacking. These radars deliver reliable performance even in challenging conditions such as dust, material angles of repose, and obstructions. Additionally, some radar level transmitters now feature event logging and diagnostics, which can monitor signal quality, detect sensor antenna buildup, and trigger alerts to activate an air purge for cleaning. However, when material surface conditions are particularly problematic and precise measurements are required, a weighing system using load cells may be a more suitable option.

Load cell systems, which measure weight by monitoring compression, require careful calibration and consideration of environmental factors. Proper calibration is crucial for ensuring accurate and repeatable measurements and understanding potential sources of error—such as calibration, linearity, and repeatability—is essential for maintaining measurement accuracy. Advances in technology have simplified verification with enhanced diagnostics, making maintenance and operation easier.

Blending Measurement Methods

In pet food processing, blending is typically done by weight and can be either batch or continuous.

Batch Blending

In batch blending, material flow is halted to mix ingredients. This process involves weighing the mixing bin or each ingredient bin, with systems often referred to as "gain in weight" or "loss in weight." Advanced weighing electronics can help monitor and adjust material flow for accurate blending, ensuring compliance with FSMA standards. For batch blending, health monitoring of load cells is critical, and recent developments include field-mounted digital junction boxes to convert analog signals for better diagnostics.

Continuous Blending

Continuous blending involves the uninterrupted mixing of materials. In this process, measurements of each component control the flow of others. Solids are measured using conveyor belt scales or solids flow meters, while liquids are measured with mass flow meters like Coriolis meters. High-accuracy systems, such as conveyor belt scales, are essential for precise measurement, with designs that mitigate horizontal forces for better accuracy.

Conclusion

Accurate measurement technologies are vital for inventory and blending control in the pet food industry. While weight measurement often provides the highest accuracy, other technologies may also meet accuracy requirements at lower installation costs. Choosing the right measurement device depends on the material characteristics, bulk solids flow behavior, required accuracy, and blending process type. Siemens offers a comprehensive range of level, flow, and weighing products. Choosing the right solutions is crucial for optimizing operational efficiency and meeting industry standards. With the right selection, companies can enhance productivity while ensuring regulatory compliance.

Herman Coello is the level marketing manager for Siemens Industry Inc. (Arlington, TX). For more information, visit www.siemens.com/us/en.