September 2021

40 n FOOD AND BEVERAGE September 2021 www.drivesncontrols.com Sensor upgrade cures problems on brewery’s canning machine T he Tap Brewery established in 2015 in Rendcomb, near Cirencester, brews a range of cask, keg and canned beers using locally produced malts, The products – including its popular Bostin Hoppy, Newted and Iris beers – are sold mainly to local pubs and shops. Unusually, the company decided to develop its own canning machine. “Microbreweries like ours are not producing the high volumes which justify the expense of sophisticated canning machines, so usually opt for barrels and bottles,” explains co-director, Tim Hobbs. But the microbrewery was determined to develop a canning machine because of its worries over the high carbon footprint associated with bottling processes. “Cans are much better for the environment, are easier to pack and transport,” Hobbs points out, “so we gave ourselves a challenge to design and build a system where we could filter, carbonate and can beer, on a relatively small budget”. The company’s first canning machine relied on optical sensors to detect the presence of foam in the can, but it soon realised that this was not an effective, or robust enough, approach and that the fill level measurements it produced were not reliable. The brewery also encountered problems with a photoelectric sensor that it was using to count the cans, because the shiny, reflective nature the aluminium cans resulted in false or multiple readings. So the brewery turned to the sensor- maker Baumer for alternative sensing devices. To measure fill levels, the company is now using Baumer’s LBFS level sensor which, combined with its 9701 Flex programmer, is providing accurate and repeatable readings, regardless of the presence of foam. It also avoids the need to wipe foam from the cans by hand. Although the programmer was an extra cost, it added flexibility to the process, and meant that the brewery could adjust the foam sensing range without having to carry out a sample test, unlike other sensors on the market. The brewery has also adopted Baumer’s IFRM proximity sensor to overcome the issues of reflections from the aluminium cans, providing the required levels of accuracy and repeatability. Hobbs reports that the canning machine is now producing around 300 cans per hour for the brewery. n A Gloucestershire microbrewery has developed its own canning machine to avoid the carbon footprint of bottling processes. But problems with the sensors it first chose, led to a rethink that has helped to boost productivity. TheTap Brewery’s home-brewed canning machine is now capable of producing 300 cans per hour