Project »ATR Beverages«

Development of a process-compatible online analysis system designed to determine quality-relevant constituents of beverages to facilitate automation of the production process and quality assurance in the beverages industry.

There is a strong economic interest in the online monitoring of various process parameters such as the concentration of dissolved carbon dioxide or the alcohol or sugar content when monitoring production in the beverages industry. Even today, it is still common practice to determine the parameters without undue delay in the company's own laboratory. However, online monitoring systems are increasingly in demand in order to meet the growing requirements with regard to process safety and reliability, quality control and economic efficiency. In the ATR Beverages Project, Fraunhofer IPM and Centec GmbH are developing an optical sensor for the parallel determination of CO₂, alcohol and sugar. It is based on an infrared, optical measuring method which utilizes attenuated total internal reflection in combination with miniaturized, spectrally tunable infrared sensors. One special challenge lies in designing the sensor so that it can be used in a harsh process environment (wide temperature range, pressure fluctuations and vibrations owing to sudden pressure changes).

Project finance

The project »ATR Beverages« is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy within its program »ZIM«.

Project partner

• Centec GmbH