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Inline Testing for pH and Sugars

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QAGB

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Posted 05 July 2016 - 12:30 PM

Hi all,

 

My company works with a variety of sugars/sweeteners and we have been trying to work on cremes and so forth recently. In order to do Brix (really total solids) testing and pH testing on the product, we have to take a sample, and run it to the lab. We then have to wait for the sample to cool down while diluting it as necessary. This process can take 15 minutes or so, which cuts into production time if adjustments have to be made. It also means the product has to sit at high heat longer if adjustments have to be made. We're looking into the feasibility of testing Total Solids and pH inline, where adjustments can be made right away.

 

We've been questioning whether or not there's a good pH probe out there that can work with very viscous products and sample inline without having to cool down or do any dilutions. We're also wondering if there is a refractometric instrument that will work similarly (not having to cool down or do any dilutions) while testing inline.

 

I've always been under the impression that even with temperature compensated instruments, there's a larger margin of error or inaccuracy with high temperatures, hence why most testing is done around 20C. The products we're talking about will have temperature ranges of anywhere between 49C and 116C depending on the product type, and I'm not sure if inline testing would be sufficient at those temperatures.

 

Anyone have ideas, or suggestions as far as lab instruments?

 

 

Thanks,

 

QAGB



Charles.C

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Posted 06 July 2016 - 01:38 AM

Hi QAGB,

 

Happy to say I have never had to face challenging conditions such as you refer for measuring pH.

 

The problem of viscosity seems to have a variety of claimed electrode solutions. Temperature capabilities are quoted up to 50degC (eg hand-held unit in last pdf  below) but associated accuracy less obvious (relates to calibration buffers presumably).

 

There is a thread on pH measurement of chocolate including some pH meters here -

 

http://www.ifsqn.com...hocolate-issue/

 

Some random material -

 

http://us.mt.com/us/...01_viscous.html

http://www.coleparme...hard-to-handle/

 

Attached File  Mettler - pH Measurement - Theory Guide.pdf   735.59KB   17 downloads

Attached File  Hanna pH meter dairy items -.pdf   295.16KB   11 downloads


Kind Regards,

 

Charles.C


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QAGB

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Posted 06 July 2016 - 11:43 AM

Hi QAGB,

 

Happy to say I have never had to face challenging conditions such as you refer for measuring pH.

 

The problem of viscosity seems to have a variety of claimed electrode solutions. Temperature capabilities are quoted up to 50degC (eg hand-held unit in last pdf  below) but associated accuracy less obvious (relates to calibration buffers presumably).

 

There is a thread on pH measurement of chocolate including some pH meters here -

 

http://www.ifsqn.com...hocolate-issue/

 

Some random material -

 

http://us.mt.com/us/...01_viscous.html

http://www.coleparme...hard-to-handle/

 

attachicon.gifMettler - pH Measurement - Theory Guide.pdf

attachicon.gifHanna pH meter dairy items -.pdf

 

 

Hi Charles,

 

I wish I didn't have to face this challenging condition because it is very unusual to test a viscous product without diluting it first. It's one of those production driven projects, where they don't want to wait for the length of time it takes to test for fear of cooking out some flavor or having people wait for 10-15 minutes. It seems like testing pH and total solids is better suited for the lab, but I figured maybe someone out there would know of some sort of instrumentation to use if there were common instruments for this type of testing.

 

I'm going to check out the links you've shared and see what I can gather.

 

Thanks!

 

QAGB



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Posted 18 July 2016 - 01:39 PM

Hi GAGB

 

I don't know how much viscosity is your product, but for our product we use CarboQC of which our product thickness is up to 65 oBrix. it can convert the temperature as well to 20oC while analyzing the percentage sugar in it.

 

thanx, hope that could help

Nelly



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QAGB

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Posted 18 July 2016 - 02:31 PM

Hi GAGB

 

I don't know how much viscosity is your product, but for our product we use CarboQC of which our product thickness is up to 65 oBrix. it can convert the temperature as well to 20oC while analyzing the percentage sugar in it.

 

thanx, hope that could help

Nelly

 

 

Hi Nelly,

 

Thanks for your reply. We are pretty much anywhere between 30-89 Brix on these products, and our viscosity gets pretty high due to solids and emulsifiers. I have found some instruments that we may be using pretty soon (possibly from Anton Paar -- the same manufacturer of the CarboQC). I checked out the CarboQC and that looks to be a CO2 meter, moreso than a solids meter. Do you have other instruments (like a refractometer) attached to the CarboQC transmitter, and as such can test solids? Is this an inline unit?

 

QAGB



Neemo

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Posted 18 July 2016 - 06:06 PM

Hi QAGB
Yes Anton Paar is our supplier, they will definitely have something they can recommend for you to use. CarboQC(Lab equipment) measures a lot of things we use it to measure CO2, Brix, Air, Diet conc, which is remotely connected to the (online density measuring principle) called Cobrix. I'm glad you have already have a connection with them.

Gudluck QA



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QAGB

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Posted 18 July 2016 - 07:12 PM

Hi QAGB
Yes Anton Paar is our supplier, they will definitely have something they can recommend for you to use. CarboQC(Lab equipment) measures a lot of things we use it to measure CO2, Brix, Air, Diet conc, which is remotely connected to the (online density measuring principle) called Cobrix. I'm glad you have already have a connection with them.

Gudluck QA

 

 

Thanks for your insight, Nelly! I'm going to find out some more information about it. I have a consultant coming in from Anton Paar, and I will talk to them about this unit as well.

 

QAGB





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