The sensors used in the food industry have very high requirements. Hygienic design, high protection class and robustness are just some of them. The new pressure sensors of the PI1xxx series meet these requirements just like the predecessor models, but offer many more advantages.
The new PI1xxx pressure sensors are mainly used in the food industry and therefore meet all common hygiene requirements. Among other things, they are certified according to EHEDG and FDA and meet protection class IP69k, so that daily cleaning with a high-pressure cleaner is no problem. The sensors use a capacitive ceramic measuring element and are therefore extremely robust. Neither abrasive or corrosive media nor vacuum or pressure peaks can harm the sensor element. In addition, the sensor permanently withstands 150°C media temperatures and is thus suitable for many high-temperature applications in the food industry. The media temperature can also be read out via IO-Link. The PTFE seal, which is permanently maintenance-free, also contributes to the robustness.
Higher resolution improved design
The new pressure sensors, which are available with various measuring ranges from vacuum to 100 bar, now communicate via IO-Link 1.1 and have a resolution of 32 bits. This is especially important for applications where differential pressures are measured and thus only a small part of the measuring range can be used. Temperature compensation has also been improved in the new series. In food industry plants, the CIP process, in which the equipment is cleaned with hot liquids, is the standard. If production is then to be resumed at low temperatures, it is important that the sensor functions reliably again as quickly as possible. This has been significantly improved in the new PI1xxx, so that production can restart much faster after cleaning — in many applications, this leads to a significant gain in efficiency.
Even seemingly small improvements to the design of a sensor can have a big impact in the application. For example, the vent opening on the new pressure sensor has been offset by 90° and is now located on the side when mounted conventionally. This prevents condensate, for example, from collecting on the membrane of the vent opening and causing contamination or impairing the function. The product has also been optimized in terms of user-friendliness: the new operating concept with three buttons makes parameterization much more convenient and thus faster.
The pressure sensors of the new series are ideally suited for applications in the food sector — for example in dairies, breweries and many other cases where liquids are used. Pressure measurements in these applications are made in tanks as well as in pipelines. The numerous improvements to the sensors offer users important advantages in this regard.
