Where previously olive oil had to be poured by hand into containers, FoodTech, a machine supplier from the Netherlands, has automated the process using level and pressure sensors from SICK Automation.
Thousands of containers per day
One of FoodTech’s recently completed projects is an automated solution for bottling and packaging olive oil for a retailer specialising in dried tomatoes, olives and olive oil. CEO Wim Reede says, “For this customer, we developed and constructed a pumping system which fills containers with olive oil automatically. Previously, they filled an average of 250 containers per day by hand, but now our customer can produce thousands of 250 ml containers every day.”
He explains how the system works: “The olive oil is supplied in large, white IBC tanks from which it is pumped into a larger stainless steel tank. Next, the oil is conveyed through pipes from this tank into the two buffer tanks of the bottling system. Finally, the bottling system fills the individual containers with exactly the right amount of olive oil.”
SICK sensors monitor the pressure in the pump and the pipes. According to Reede, it is vitally important that the pressure in the pump and the pipes is always kept at the correct level: “As soon as the pressure drops due to air bubbles, there is a risk that olive oil could accumulate on the inner surfaces. It then becomes rubber-like in consistency, making cleaning extremely difficult. Thanks to SICK, we can monitor this perfectly. The TDR level sensor LFP Inox checks whether there is still a sufficient amount of oil in the stainless steel tank. If this drops below a certain threshold, more is pumped from the IBC tank.”
Reede has been exposed to SICK products for many years. “At the start, when we were only involved in system maintenance, I dealt with sensors from a very wide range of manufacturers. From then, we could see that SICK sensors simply do not break, they have a long service life, and they are available at a reasonable price. They think about all of the little points in detail and I haven’t even mentioned the excellent customer service yet, they are always very approachable.”
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