When you need to measure actual in-process conditions in your industrial oven, the state-of-the-art Reading Thermal SCORPION® 2 Profiling System and Data Logger is a great solution.
Reading Thermal, a product brand of Reading Bakery Systems, is located in Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania. Our heat transfer experts have been studying, measuring, and understanding the commercial baking process for 25+ years. We manufacture and support the SCORPION® 2 Profiling System and Data Logger which has become a standard in the baking industry.
Connecting our innovative smart sensors and sensor arrays to the SCORPION® 2 Profiling System and Data Logger and passing them through the oven with your product enables the system to capture the four main baking parameters:
- Temperature (including the temperature of both the air and the oven belt surface)
- Heat flux (energy transfer)
- Humidity
- Airflow (velocity).
What Can Be Measured
Connecting smart sensors and sensor arrays to the SCORPION® 2 Data Logging Measurement System and passing them through the oven with the product, enables the measurement system to capture the four main baking parameters:
1) Temperature: Oven temperature affects oven-spring, drying/dehydration, and color formation during baking. Temperatures that are too low or too high can also lead to undesirable changes in texture and taste. The Scorpion® 2 Temperature Sensor Array measures temperature at product level, in fixed positions across the conveyor, and delivers a precise picture of temperatures from side-to-side and end-to-end.
2) Humidity: Humidity is the amount of water vapor in the air. While baking, your products use the available moisture in your oven. Without humidity, the quality and texture of your products will not turn out as expected. High oven humidity can lighten the crust color of baked goods and prevent it from burning. Lower humidity typically results in crustier bread. Global bakeries trust the SCORPION® 2 Digital Humidity Sensor, to accurately measure the absolute moisture content of the thermal environment in heating and cooling processes.
3) Air velocity: In a convection oven, the airflow comes primarily from the air distribution plenums. In a radiant oven, it comes from the moving conveyor, the exhaust system, and natural combustion air currents. Measuring oven air velocity with the SCORPION® 2 Air Velocity Sensor is crucial because airflow will influence the texture, firmness, coloration, and baking time of the final product. The profiles will help you spot airflow differences between baking zones and undesirable air currents at the entrance or exit of the oven that can cause inconsistent baking.
4) Heat flux: Oven heat flux is the amount of energy transferred per unit area per unit time from or to a surface. It is the best indicator of oven performance during baking in terms of the product. Many bakeries use these profiles when attempting to produce the same product on two different lines or when trying to transfer product from one line to another. When the heat flux profiles match, the two lines will produce the same product. The SCORPION® 2 Heat Flux Sensor measures convective and radiant heat fluxes at product level and displays the results in Btu/hr·ft2 or W/m2.
When your industrial oven calls for monitoring baking conditions, consider the state-of-the-art SCORPION® 2 Data Logger from Reading Thermal. Contact us online or call us at (610) 678-5890 Ext. 2 to learn more about them.