I am Li Ming, the technical supervisor of the filling workshop at Food Group. Last summer, all three of our beverage production lines experienced filling volume deviations due to mechanical water meter failures, resulting in an entire batch of products being rejected and losses exceeding 200,000 yuan.
Root Causes of the Problem
The original DN50 mechanical water meters revealed three major flaws in carbonated beverage filling:
Bubbles in the liquid caused ±5% measurement errors
Syrup crystallization required monthly cleaning
Vibrations from the filling machine caused gear jams
During the Mid-Autumn peak season, the orange juice filling line was fined 30,000 yuan due to water meter failure.
The Solution
This year, we upgraded to DN80 full electronic ultrasonic water meters. The installation was clamp-on type, with a “bubble mode” to filter out interference in carbonated beverages, and integration into the MES system for real-time closed-loop control.
Immediate Results
In its first month of operation, the new system successfully issued an alert:
The orange juice filling line’s flow rate fluctuated from 2.5 m³/h to 3.2 m³/h
Pressure dropped by 0.3 MPa
Return water temperature increased by 8°C
Within 15 minutes, we identified a clogged filter and prevented an entire batch from being scrapped.
Key Advantages
±0.5% accuracy, completely eliminating filling deviations
Automatically filters bubbles and impurities, suitable for high-viscosity liquids
Data upload every 5 seconds for dynamic adjustments
No moving parts, requiring only calibration every six months
Flow curve predicts equipment failures, providing 3-day early warning for pump issues
All three production lines are now equipped with this system, which the general manager has praised as the “precision guardian.” We plan to upgrade the jam filling line next year.
