System for controlling water used for industrial food processing

1. A control system for controlling water used in a food processing system, the control system comprising:

at least one sensor configured to sense a produce handling device and generate a sensor signal;

a fouling control device connected to the at least one sensor, wherein the fouling control device comprises:

an air blast device configured to deliver a filtered and oil-free burst of air to dislodge adhering material on the at least one sensor;

at least one valve connected to the at least one sensor, wherein the fouling control device is configured to deliver a cleaning solution using the at least one valve to dissolve the adhering material on the at least one sensor;

a set of cascaded filters coupled to the at least one valve and including a first filter connected in series with a second filter, wherein the first filter and the second filter are of a tangential flow design; and

a calibration solution device configured to deliver a calibration solution to the at least one valve;

a logic processor configured to receive the sensor signal generated by the at least one sensor and generate a control signal for controlling adding a wash solution to the water used in the food processing system, based on the sensor signal; and

a human machine interface (HMI) configured to display information from the logic processor.

2. The control system of claim 1 , further comprising:

at least one pump that is configured to receive the control signal from the logic processor and pump the wash solution into the water in the food processing system based on the control signal.

3. The control system of claim 2 , wherein the at least one pump is configured to pump the wash solution for a time interval as defined by the control signal.

4. The control system of claim 2 , wherein the at least one pump is configured to pump the wash solution at a frequency as defined by the control signal.

5. The control system of claim 2 , wherein the at least one pump is configured to pump a particular amount of the wash solution as defined by the control signal.

6. The control system of claim 2 , wherein the logic processor is further configured to:

receive a data input from one or more users using the human machine interface; and

generate the control signal based also on the data input.

7. The control system of claim 1 , wherein the set of cascaded filters is connected between the food processing system and the at least one sensor.

8. The control system of claim 1 , wherein the set of cascaded filters is configured to filter sample water provided to the at least one sensor and return excess sample water when the at least one valve is engaged to provide at least one of the cleaning solution or the calibration solution to the at least one sensor instead of the sample water.

9. The control system of claim 1 , wherein the fouling control device connected to the at least one sensor further comprises:

a fluid receptacle that contains the cleaning solution; and

a dosing pump connected to the fluid receptacle, wherein the fouling control device is configured to deliver the cleaning solution using the dosing pump and the at least one valve to dissolve the adhering material on the at least one sensor.

10. The control system of claim 1 , wherein the cleaning solution comprises from about 0.5% to about 2% peroxy acetic acid.

11. The control system of claim 1 , wherein the logic processor is configured to receive feedback data from the food processing system and generate the control signal also based on the feedback data.

12. The control system of claim 1 , further comprising:

data handling devices that include one or more of a USB drive, an internal drive, a static memory device, and a network connection to local storage or to cloud storage.

13. The control system of claim 1 , further comprising:

a memory configured to store one or more of the control signal, the sensor signal, and computer-readable instructions, wherein the logic processor is further configured to execute the computer-readable instructions, the computer-readable instructions comprising:

receiving the sensor signal;

generating the control signal based on the sensor signal;

generating a sensor cleaning control signal based on the sensor signal;

operating the fouling control device connected to the at least one sensor; and

transmitting the sensor cleaning control signal to the at least one valve.

14. The control system of claim 13 , wherein the computer-readable instructions further comprise:

receiving the control signal at a pump; and

pumping the wash solution for at least one of a set time, frequency, or amount based on the control signal.

15. A computer program product for controlling water used in a food processing system, the computer program product comprising a computer-readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable by at least one processor to cause the food processing system to:

receive a sensor signal from a sensor disposed at the food processing system;

generate one or more control signals for controlling a fouling control device and at least one of one or more chemical pumps or one or more valves of a control system to provide a wash solution into the water based on the sensor signal; and

operate the fouling control device and the at least one of the one or more chemical pumps or the one or more valves based on the one or more control signals, wherein the fouling control device comprises:

an air blast device configured to deliver a filtered and oil-free burst of air to dislodge adhering material on the sensor;

at least one valve connected to the sensor, wherein the fouling control device is configured to deliver a cleaning solution using the at least one valve to dissolve the adhering material on the sensor;

a set of cascaded filters coupled to the at least one valve and including a first filter connected in series with a second filter, wherein the first filter and the second filter are of a tangential flow design; and

a calibration solution device configured to deliver a calibration solution to the at least one valve.