Soft drinks & mineral water production in the food & beverage industry

Soft drinks are enormously popular beverages consisting primarily of carbonated water, sugar, and flavourings. The main raw material is water, and a large quantity of good quality water is needed: this must be first treated to remove impurities, filtered, chlorinated, and then the pH adjusted to neutral. This is then accepted into the beverage production plant, where it is first degassed under CO2 in a partial vacuum, primarily to remove oxygen. Following the water can be mixed with some sweetening syrups or sugars, and flavour and colourings added to suit the end product required. These additions can be in several stages, mainly in vessels blanketed with CO2. Some controlled heating and cooling is required: heating for pasteurisation of some components, cooling for controlled and better dosing with CO2 gas. The water is typically carbonated with CO2 in the final process stage, just before filling into bottles or cans.

KROHNE instrumentation is available for monitoring the level, pressure, temperature and flow of the liquids, to ensure the correct quantities and recipes. The OPTIMASS Coriolis mass flowmeters are ideal for measuring the different beverage ingredients. Thanks to the EGM™ technology by KROHNE (Entrained Gas Management), Coriolis devices can even do this with entrained gas proportions in the flowing mixtures of up to 100%. Additionally OPTIMASS devices can measure the sugar concentration through precise density measurement. Level measuring devices can be used to control the high or low level in the storage silos for both solid or liquid ingredients. All devices are EHEDG and 3-A certified and meet the requirements of FDA, EC1935 / 2004 and EEC MI 005 directive.