Drink Up! 600,000 flowmeters supplied to beer manufacturer

Over the last 20 years flow measurement specialist Titan Enterprises has supplied over 600,000 flow measurement devices to the beer industry, the company reports.

These devices have all gone to the same beer maker, Vianet (formerly Brulines), and have been used for a different functions in the beer production process.

The relationship with Titan Enterprises started when Brulines were developing a telemetry product to provide pub chain owners with data on their bar activity via an electronic point of sale (EPOS) system. After trialling several flowmeters, Brulines sought a solution to resolve flowmeter bearing lifespan problems and the unreliability of the optical detection method. 

Titan Enterprises proposed an adapted version of its 800-series turbine flowmeter as the design included durable sapphire bearings proven reliable for many thousand hours operation, and a Hall effect detector which was not subject to problems with discolouration inside the pipe. To ensure the flowmeter was ‘fit for purpose’, Titan additionally adapted the cable type as well as the body and increased the cable length to 10 metres. These adaptions enabled Brulines installations to be maintained in beer cellars with differing wire runs to the control panel without any junction boxes.

Following the widespread reliability and success of the original product, Vianet subsequently turned again to Titan Enterprises to develop an “intelligent” flowmeter (IFM) for their enhanced iDraught retail product. The specification for this IFM required that it should measure temperature as well as determining the type of fluid in the line to detect line cleaning cycles which are essential for the dispense of a good pint.  After development, trialling and testing, this new IFM was introduced and supplied to Vianet at the rate of up to 3500 units a week. Since this first IFM introduction, close collaboration between the 2 parties has resulted in 5 iterations of the product with revised features as end user requirements have evolved.

“Titan’s supply chain has always delivered to our quality and timescale needs,” said Mark Fewster, product manager at Vianet.