Automated beverage batch blending system

01

Choose batch tanks, in-line blending or both

Krones describes its SyPro syrup room as modular units for preparing beverage ingredients — powder, liquid or frozen raw materials — into finished syrups or finished products, run either continuously or in batches depending on the manufacturing philosophy, with output adjusted to the line; it offers three mixing concepts: batch mixing of the components followed by a Contiflow mixer for the finished product, a fully automatic recipe-controlled Multiblend system feeding a Contiflow, or the Contiflow used alone as a multi-ingredient mixer combining syrup mixing and finished-product manufacture for up to 8 ingredients. [1]

Sonic Corporation, writing in Processing Magazine, describes the conventional batch method as ingredients added one at a time by weight into a large agitated tank on load cells or floor scales; because the scale must carry the tank's own weight, its resolution for small additions is poor, giving weak ratio control, and flow meters used to add liquids do not account for material left in piping or drains. An in-line system instead meters ingredients simultaneously with positive-displacement pumps, flow meters and PID ratio control into one shared pipeline with static or shear mixers, and the article puts ratio control at 0.25–0.35% across two or more feeds with Coriolis meters, and up to four fluids at 100 GPM total flow under 10 HP in some cases. [2]

Editorial calculation: 100 US gal/min × 3.785 L/gal × 60 min/h ≈ 22,700 L/h, which sits just above the smallest in-line blender capacity Tetra Pak lists (20,000 l/h). [2] [4]

Editorial note: the Krones three-concept description shows that batch preparation of a syrup and in-line dilution to finished beverage can be combined in one syrup room; decide per recipe which ingredients are batched and which are blended in line.

Give the supplier the recipe list (ingredients, ratios, Brix or density targets, viscosities, powders or frozen concentrates), batch sizes or line output in l/h, number of products and changeovers per day, sugar supply (crystalline, liquid, silo), required verification (weight, mass flow, density, Brix, lab sampling), tank and buffer volumes, CIP regime, materials and finishes, control system and data interfaces, and the space and utilities available.

02

Set the metering, Brix control and recovery

KROHNE reports a European juice producer that doses fruit-juice concentrate, vitamins and other additives into mixing tanks and then adds water according to the sugar content (Brix); it fitted OPTIMASS 7300 Coriolis meters that measure mass and volume flow of the additives and use their integrated density measurement to calculate sugar concentration, with a single straight measuring tube chosen because the slightly viscous media needed a meter without constrictions or bends and with very little pressure loss; the customer's PLC controls dosing and mixing automatically, and the meter is certified to EHEDG and 3A. [3]

Tetra Pak describes its Tetra Alblend Final Syrup unit as continuous blending in 20,000, 40,000 and 60,000 l/h ranges (other capacities on request) with up to 10 ingredient streams and minimum dosing of 10 l/h; software calculates and corrects the amount of each ingredient, checks run 4–5 times per second, a sensor monitors Brix or density in the buffer tank, the buffer evens out start and end of a run and lets production continue for a time if the filler stops, and a recovery system returns lost product to the blender. [4]

Krones lists the sugar side of a syrup room as a receiving station for liquid sugar or a silo, dissolving in batch or continuously depending on quantity and economics, and filtration for decolouration or cleaning by candle, sheet, ion-exchange, kieselguhr or activated-carbon filters; stirring and mixing equipment for concentrates and powders is designed for viscosity, batch size and solubility, with suction lances, drum dumpers and crushers and melters for deep-frozen concentrates. [1]

03

Load-cell tanks, metered additions, batch syrup with in-line dilution, and continuous ratio blending

Krones runs batch syrup preparation and in-line dilution to finished beverage in one syrup room, so a plant can use more than one row of this table. [1]

04

Sugar dissolver, syrup filters, dosing meters, Brix measurement and recovery tanks

The first two rows depend on how sugar arrives: Krones receives liquid sugar or sugar from a silo and dissolves it in batch or continuously according to quantity and economics, then filters it by candle, sheet, ion-exchange, kieselguhr or activated-carbon filters. [1]

05

Output, ingredient lines, ratio accuracy and recipe control for a syrup room

The 0.25–0.35% ratio figure comes from an article by a blending-system maker, measured across two or more feeds with Coriolis meters, not from a test on your recipes; ask for the accuracy at your smallest ingredient dose. [2]

06

Send the recipes, output and verification needs together

Paste it into your enquiry below or into an email to a maker, then replace every bracket.

Recipes: [ingredients; ratios; Brix or density targets; viscosity]
Output: [batch volume or l/h; products; changeovers]
Sugar: [crystalline; liquid; silo; dissolving]
Metering: [weighing; mass flow; density; Brix]
Tanks: [mixing; syrup; buffer; recovery]
Controls and cleaning: [PLC; recipes; CIP]
Supply: [materials; utilities; documents]

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