LBFS: Reliable level monitoring for the beverage industry

A multi-purpose sensor: Baumer has developed a versatile solution, the LFBS, to monitor filling levels of containers and tanks in the beverage industry. One version of the sensor in a hygienic design, certified according to EHEDG and 3A, was introduced at the Brau Beviale fair in Nuremberg. The level switch recognizes all types and states of liquids, including sticky syrups or adhesive foams that can cause switches to malfunction in conventional systems. Appropriate settings allow the LFBS to reliably ignore adherent liquids.

The secret of this is the use of frequency sweep technology, regarded by plant manufacturers and beverage producers as the most reliable system. The working principle is based on the fact that every material, regardless of its consistency, has a medium-specific permeability for electric fields. An adherence or a foam can consequently be distinguished from the actual liquid so that, for instance, the risk of a connected pump running dry can be avoided.

Baumer offers the hygienically designed version of the LFBS with a 1.4404 stainless steel housing and matching PM023 weld-in boss. The sensor tip consists of a specifically approved PEEK plastic and protrudes only 18 millimeters into the container or tube in order to avoid flow blockages or undesirable shadow casting.