About this industry
A food or beverage plant runs on controlled heat, sanitary measurement, and safe air — CIP hot water and oven air on the process side, Tri-Clamp flow metering where product touches the meter, ammonia leak detection over the refrigeration plant, and checkweighing at the end of the line. Prater Technical Partners supplies that layer across the Badger Meter family (sanitary mag, turbine, and oval-gear flow plus ATi GasSens gas detection), Aspeq electric heating (Indeeco, Heatrex, Accutherm, Solar Products), Hi-Heat flexible heaters, WIKA-ST load cells, Fluke Process Instruments IR pyrometers, and CSZ test chambers. Prater Technical works with you to spec each one from the product, the line, and the sanitation regime.
- Food-service OEM equipment heating (washdown-tolerant silicone options)—Hi-Heat Silicone Rubber·Hi-Heat Polyester Film·Hi-Heat Wire-Wound
- Coffee, vending, bakery & steam-cooking equipment dispensing shots—Vision BV1000·Vision BV2000
- Process- & washing-water metering around the plant—Vision BV3000
- Process-control flow measurement on plant lines—Blancett B3000·ModMAG M2000·Dynasonics TFX-5000
- Light-exposure testing of food, flavor & fragrance products—CSZ Photostability Chambers
- Nutraceutical & consumer-product stability / accelerated-aging studies—CSZ Stability Chambers
FAQ: instrumentation for food & beverage plants
Which flow meters can run in sanitary, product-contact service?
The ModMAG M1000 and M2000 mag meters are offered with sanitary sensors — Tri-Clamp and DIN 11851 fittings — for liquid food ingredients, and the Industrial Oval Gear stainless 316L meter carries Tri-Clamp connections and food-industry documentation for syrup, oil, and flavoring batching. For hygienic pre-process batching where full 3-A certification is not required, the Blancett B16N FloClean turbine has a Tri-Clamp 316L body with removable thrust bearings. Start at the flow meters page.
Can you cover ammonia leak detection for the refrigeration plant?
Yes — ATi GasSens is ambient gas detection built for it: the E12-15 IR sensor watches for ammonia refrigerant leaks, the A14/A11 modular system adds a local horn and shutoff relays for area monitoring, and D12 transmitters cover ammonia, CO, and ethylene-oxide points in process rooms. The GasSens Midi controller networks combustible and toxic sensors across boiler rooms and breweries. See the ATi GasSens page.
Who makes the heaters for CIP hot water and sanitary tanks?
Indeeco, Heatrex, and Accutherm all build for it: flanged immersion heaters carry the sanitary hot-water and tank duty behind CIP and SIP cycles, screw-plug heaters cover tanks at modest kW, and over-the-side heaters serve open tanks where the element is pulled regularly for cleaning. Most of it is engineered to order from your tank drawing and duty — start at the electric heating page.
What do you supply for ovens, roasters, and drying lines?
Indeeco, Heatrex, and Accutherm process air heaters supply baking and roasting oven air and agricultural-product drying; Solar Products builds custom infrared panels for radiant drying and pre-heating of heat-sensitive products; and Thermalert 4.0 pyrometers read oven and packaging surface temperature without touching the product. See electric heating and the IR pyrometers page.
Can you handle checkweighing and packaging-line instrumentation?
Yes. WIKA-ST bending-beam and single-point load cells rated to OIML R60 Class C carry checkweighers and legal-for-trade platform scales, and S-type cells handle suspended-hopper batch weighing upstream. On the same line, the ATi IsoMon validates dual-range H₂O₂ on packaging decontamination, and Hedland variable-area meters watch compressed air feeding the machinery. Start at the force & pressure page.
Working a line upgrade, a sanitary metering spec, or an ammonia-detection layout? Talk to Scott — send directly to Scott Prater at scott@pratertechnical.com, or call him directly at 917-580-0878 during business hours.
Compiled by Prater Technical Partners.