In-Line Sensor Calibration Using Reference Fluid Validation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current in-line sensors for food wash systems lack precision and accuracy in monitoring fluid flow and analyte concentration, failing to meet the requirements of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act and requiring improved calibration and validation methods to ensure the validity of sensor responses.
Innovation Solution
A food wash sensor system that includes a sensor along a fluid flow path, a reference fluid reservoir with a predetermined analyte concentration, and a delivery system to circulate the reference fluid through the flow path, allowing for continuous calibration and validation of the sensor over time, ensuring accurate detection of analyte concentrations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If manual test procedures are used for chlorine testing, then simplicity and ease of operation are improved, but measurement precision and accuracy deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual mechanical test procedures (test strips, titrations) with an automated optical sensor system that uses light absorption to detect chlorine concentration. This substitution provides both automated operation and precise quantitative measurements, resolving the contradiction between ease of operation and measurement precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The sensor system performs self-calibration by automatically comparing its readings against a reference fluid with known chlorine concentration. This self-service calibration mechanism maintains measurement precision without requiring manual intervention, while the system remains easy to operate through automated processes.
2Measurement precision
If colorimetric procedures with portable meters are used, then measurement precision is improved, but productivity and monitoring speed deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces portable colorimetric meters with a continuous in-line optical sensor system. This substitution enables real-time monitoring of chlorine concentration as wash water flows through the system, dramatically improving productivity and monitoring speed while maintaining the precision of optical measurement methods.
Solution Approach 2:
The in-line sensor provides continuous monitoring of chlorine concentration throughout the wash process, rather than discrete spot checks. This continuous measurement approach maintains high measurement precision while significantly improving productivity by eliminating the need to stop or slow down the process for sampling and testing.
3Ease of operation
If a sensor is moved to an external reference fluid for calibration, then calibration simplicity is improved, but measurement precision deteriorates due to flow and local depletion effects
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a reference fluid with known chlorine concentration as an intermediary calibration standard. The reference fluid is pumped through the same flow path and past the same sensor location as the process wash water, creating identical flow conditions and eliminating the precision errors that occur when sensors are removed from their operating environment for calibration.
Solution Approach 2:
The calibration process creates equipotential conditions by ensuring that both process water and reference fluid pass through the sensor under identical flow rates and environmental conditions. This eliminates potential differences in measurement conditions that would otherwise cause precision errors, while the automated pumping system maintains ease of operation.
4Measurement precision
If a sample is removed from the stream for reference method analysis, then measurement precision is improved, but reliability deteriorates due to time and space differences
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements continuous in-line monitoring where the sensor remains in the process stream and measures chlorine concentration in real-time as the wash water flows through. This eliminates the time and space separation inherent in sampling methods, ensuring that measurements reflect the actual process conditions and maintaining both precision and reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The reference fluid acts as an intermediary calibration standard that is introduced into the continuous flow stream. This allows the sensor to be calibrated against a known standard without removing process samples, maintaining the continuity of measurement and ensuring reliability by eliminating time delays between sampling and analysis.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system provides precise and validated data for food safety by maintaining sensor accuracy and precision, ensuring consistent sensor readings and compliance with regulatory standards through continuous calibration and validation processes.
Implementation Method 1
a sensor disposed along a fluid flow path operable to detect a concentration of an analyte in the wash fluid
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed is a food wash sensor system that includes a sensor disposed along a fluid flow path that can circulate a wash fluid through the food wash sensor system. The sensor can detect a concentration of an analyte in the wash fluid. The system also includes a reference fluid reservoir including a reference fluid, the reference fluid including a predetermined concentration of the analyte in solution, a delivery system fluidly coupled to the fluid flow path and operable to supply the reference fluid to the fluid flow path upstream from the sensor while maintaining the sensor in place along the fluid flow path, and a control and monitoring system configured to receive a signal from the sensor, the signal indicating the concentration of the analyte in the reference fluid at a first time, and control calibrating the sensor and validating the sensor over time based on the received signal.