Rheology Solutions OLR OnLine Rheometer

The OnLine Rheometer (OLR) from Rheology Solutions is the first to continuously measure, plot and report the flow properties of liquids in process pipes. The OLR assists process monitoring, process control and quality control of liquids in the processing and manufacturing of food products.

Flow properties that influence processability or mouthfeel like viscosity, tack, elasticity, body and others are important for a variety of products in the food industry. The OnLine Rheometer (OLR) is able to make measurements that directly relate to these variables and provide feedback to the operator in real time. In this way the operator can make informed process decisions about the quality of the material in the pipe and make changes as appropriate.

The OLR can reduce or remove costly waiting times associated with laboratory testing, removing production bottlenecks and increasing effective production capacity. In addition, consumer-critical parameters such as mouthfeel can now be monitored online so that customer satisfaction with the final product can be better assured during production rather than post production from a taste panel assessment. The OLR will consistently measure the properties that define critical mouthfeel attributes that have been previously evaluated as preferred and important from pilot product tests with taste panels.

The OLR is tuned to frequencies that probe the relevant microstructures that affect mouthfeel and in doing so provides measurements that can be more easily correlated to the attributes of interest.