Microwave Fill Level Inspection System for Industrial Packaged Products

Area of Science:

• Industrial Engineering
• Electromagnetics
• Quality Control

Background:

• Accurate fill level control is crucial for industrial product inspection, ensuring content conformity and maintaining brand trust.
• Selecting appropriate fill level inspection technology depends heavily on product content and packaging material properties.
• Existing methods may face limitations with diverse product types and packaging materials.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and evaluate a novel microwave-based system for industrial fill level inspection.
• To demonstrate the system's effectiveness across various liquid products (water, oil, alcohol-based).
• To assess the system's performance in real-time processing at production speeds.

Main Methods:

• Development of a microwave inspection system utilizing two Vivaldi antennas.
• System operation frequency range: 1 to 18 GHz.
• Testing on water, oil, and alcohol-based products conveyed at production speed.

Main Results:

• The microwave system achieved good accuracy in classifying fill levels.
• Efficient real-time fault rejection was demonstrated.
• The system proved applicable to diverse liquid products and packaging.

Conclusions:

• Microwave-based inspection offers a viable and accurate solution for fill level control in industrial packaging.
• The proposed system effectively addresses challenges related to varying product and packaging materials.
• Real-time performance enables seamless integration into high-speed production lines.