A torque sensor from Sensor technology is helping to analyse the mixing properties of recipes in a project that could slash development costs in the food industry.
Researchers at Bradford University have developed a miniature mixer to handle batches of 5-25g that incorporates instrumentation to monitor the properties of materials as they are being mixed.
One of the key parameters to be measured is the torque of the mixer which becomes constant once mixing is complete. This is measured by a TorqSense non-contact sensor, making the mixer robust in operation and easier to build and rebuild between trials.
The results of the research are expected to have a major impact on the formulation of viscous mixes and on the scale-up of extruders.
TorqSense sensors are surface acoustic wave devices which use two ceramic piezoelectric frequency resonating combs fixed to the shaft of the sensor. As the torque changes the combs vary their spacing and their resonant frequency changes according to the torque applied.
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