Quantum cascade lasers check hundreds of production line packs per minute

When you’re running a factory pumping out thousands of bottles of drink, food or other consumer products an hour, leaks can be an expensive disaster.

Normally, factories look for leaking products with grab samples – checking one in every 100 or 200 products to make sure they’re airtight and hoping that’s reflective of the condition of the whole batch. 

“In an industry being driven by an increasing consumer awareness of freshness and safety, manufacturers need solutions that allow them to assure these qualities while maintaining, or even increasing, efficiency,” says Peter Watmough, leak detection product manager at Emerson Automation Solutions. 

A new machine offers a different solution. Emerson’s Rosemount CT4215 Packaging Leak Detection System fits into existing production processes, and can measure up to 200 packs per minute. It uses a quantum cascade laser to assess every item leaving a production line, and can detect trace gases from defective packaging, and instantly reject faulty products.  

A high-flow vacuum pump draws air from around the bottle and delivers it to the measurement cell. If gas from a leaking product passes through the cell, it absorbs some of the laser light, and less will reach the detector.