A major Healthcare manufacture wanted to monitor the level of air in the manufacture of toothpaste. Their toothpaste filling system is pressure fed from bulk Portable Pressure Vessels (PPVs)
As the PPVs discharge and the level of toothpaste drops rat-holing may occur, where the paste sticks to the walls and air is drawn through at the bottom of the cone of the PPV. This entrained air pushes through to the pressure pot. Eventually the level of toothpaste in the pressure pot drops below the outlet level and the pneumatic pressure in the system can blow through the filler head.
The ITS p2000 Electrical Resistance Tomography (ERT) system was used in trials in the R&D pilot plant. A conventional 16-electrode pipeline sensor was fitted to the outlet of a PPV to detect the presence and location of air entrained within the toothpaste.
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