FluorLite-MC (Milk Coagulation) Sensor Performance
Prairie Farms Swiss Cheese Plant
Luana, Iowa
October 11, 2024
Prairie Farms installed a FluorLite-MC sensor with PLC operation in one vat to determine if the technology would precisely determine the cutting time. The trial system demonstrated that the technology predicted cutting time precisely and automatically. Prairie Farms purchased the FluorLite-MC system for all seven vats and completed startup on March 30, 2023.
The seven sensors were set into Auto-mode from day one and have been operational for 18 months. There have been no issues with the FluorLite sensors except for a firmware change soon after startup. Their performance has been exceptionally good.
The sensors predict the cutting time at the desired gel firmness so the PLC can cut automatically. This technology improved the precision of cutting time selection by removing the variability associated with having different operators select the cutting time as not all vat operators are cheese makers.
The sensors automatically adjust to changes in enzyme strength simplifying the process change when, for example, the enzyme reactivity of a batch changes from an IMCU of 620 to 700.
The overall plant average of whey fats from January to September 2024 decreased by 13% from the previous year’s average of 0.266% to 0.236% for savings of about 8000 pounds per month.
Swiss cheese product-quality has improved. Compared to previous years, there has been a 10% reduction from cracks, and very minimal rejections from cracks even at 130 days.
In the last 10 years the plant has made several changes to improve the performance of Swiss cheese making. The addition of the FluorLite-MC sensors has been one of the top process improvement technologies implemented.
Rod Kregel
Cheese Tech.
Cheese Basics Inc.
Monona, Iowa
rkregel@prairiefarms.com
Approved for distribution on 2024 10 24.
Luana, Iowa
October 11, 2024
Prairie Farms installed a FluorLite-MC sensor with PLC operation in one vat to determine if the technology would precisely determine the cutting time. The trial system demonstrated that the technology predicted cutting time precisely and automatically. Prairie Farms purchased the FluorLite-MC system for all seven vats and completed startup on March 30, 2023.
The seven sensors were set into Auto-mode from day one and have been operational for 18 months. There have been no issues with the FluorLite sensors except for a firmware change soon after startup. Their performance has been exceptionally good.
The sensors predict the cutting time at the desired gel firmness so the PLC can cut automatically. This technology improved the precision of cutting time selection by removing the variability associated with having different operators select the cutting time as not all vat operators are cheese makers.
The sensors automatically adjust to changes in enzyme strength simplifying the process change when, for example, the enzyme reactivity of a batch changes from an IMCU of 620 to 700.
The overall plant average of whey fats from January to September 2024 decreased by 13% from the previous year’s average of 0.266% to 0.236% for savings of about 8000 pounds per month.
Swiss cheese product-quality has improved. Compared to previous years, there has been a 10% reduction from cracks, and very minimal rejections from cracks even at 130 days.
In the last 10 years the plant has made several changes to improve the performance of Swiss cheese making. The addition of the FluorLite-MC sensors has been one of the top process improvement technologies implemented.
Rod Kregel
Cheese Tech.
Cheese Basics Inc.
Monona, Iowa
rkregel@prairiefarms.com
Approved for distribution on 2024 10 24.