by
Phillip Clancy, Next Instruments, Australia
The challenge has been to design instrumentation that is powerful yet simple to operate and maintain.
NIR analysers are now available for use in all aspects of food production; right from ‘farm to factory.’ Australian company Next Instruments specialises in designing and manufacturing NIR analysers for use by farmers, grain traders, grain processors and food manufacturers.
Firstly, farmers do often have science and engineering degrees, but their primary job is to grow and reap their crops. Therefore, the tools that they use to assist them in this process need to be easy to use, rugged and reliable.
Secondly, grain buyers and grain processing companies typically have a laboratory, or at least an office to operate instruments.
However the instruments still have to perform the tasks quickly and simply; with the information generated easily accessible in this digital age.
And finally, food manufacturers want to use information to improve their product quality and their operational productivity. NIR analysers can play a useful role in the process of taking grains and oil seeds from the farm to the supermarket shelves.
Description
Next Instruments’ broad range of NIR analysers is based on a simple diode array spectrometer that has a relatively small footprint, has no moving parts, is fairly low cost to manufacture; whilst still being both rugged and reliable.
Figure 1 shows a schematic of this diode array spectrometer.
Light from a tungsten halogen lamp shines through a sample of grains, powder, slurry or liquid. The light energy is absorbed by the protein, moisture, oil and sugars present in the sample.
The transmitted light is focused into the spectrometer where the light gets separated into its component wavelengths. The separated light, called the NIR spectrum (see figure 2), is projected onto a silicon photodiode array detector that is also used in photocopiers and flatbed scanners.
The detectors in the array measure the intensity of the light that hits each receptor, with protein absorbing at a specific wavelength - 1020nm, whilst water absorbs at 970nm, oil at 905nm and sugars at 820nm.
By measuring the amount of light that hits each detector element, then the amount of light absorbed at each wavelength can be calculated.
This allows the instrument to measure the concentration of each component. The more light that is absorbed, the higher the concentration. Typically this simple diode array spectrometer typically weighs approximately 7kg and is the size of a lunch box.
The spectrometer can be fitted to an instrument chassis with the appropriate sampling mechanism to make a NIR analyser for many different applications.
On Farm NIR Analysers
The CropScan range of On Farm NIR Analyser includes the CropScan 1000 and 3000 configurations.
The CropScan 1000G (see figure 3) is a portable whole grain analyser designed to provide farmers with the ability to measure their grains before the truck leaves the farm gate.
The 1000G can be run from a car adapter and suits operation in a utility vehicle, a tractor or a combine. Grain can be analysed in less than 60 seconds for protein, moisture and oil.
The farmer can use the information to segregate the crop by protein and oil in order to capture ‘higher-grade’ premiums. The superior accuracy of the NIR for measuring moisture provides farmers with the ability to know when to strip and when to dry their grains.
The CropScan 3000H On Combine Analyser is the only proven whole grain analyser to operate on virtually any combine harvester.
Read the full article HERE.
The challenge has been to design instrumentation that is powerful yet simple to operate and maintain.
NIR analysers are now available for use in all aspects of food production; right from ‘farm to factory.’ Australian company Next Instruments specialises in designing and manufacturing NIR analysers for use by farmers, grain traders, grain processors and food manufacturers.
Firstly, farmers do often have science and engineering degrees, but their primary job is to grow and reap their crops. Therefore, the tools that they use to assist them in this process need to be easy to use, rugged and reliable.
Secondly, grain buyers and grain processing companies typically have a laboratory, or at least an office to operate instruments.
However the instruments still have to perform the tasks quickly and simply; with the information generated easily accessible in this digital age.
And finally, food manufacturers want to use information to improve their product quality and their operational productivity. NIR analysers can play a useful role in the process of taking grains and oil seeds from the farm to the supermarket shelves.
Description
Next Instruments’ broad range of NIR analysers is based on a simple diode array spectrometer that has a relatively small footprint, has no moving parts, is fairly low cost to manufacture; whilst still being both rugged and reliable.
 |
| Figure 1: Schematic of Diode Array Spectrometer |
Light from a tungsten halogen lamp shines through a sample of grains, powder, slurry or liquid. The light energy is absorbed by the protein, moisture, oil and sugars present in the sample.
The transmitted light is focused into the spectrometer where the light gets separated into its component wavelengths. The separated light, called the NIR spectrum (see figure 2), is projected onto a silicon photodiode array detector that is also used in photocopiers and flatbed scanners.
The detectors in the array measure the intensity of the light that hits each receptor, with protein absorbing at a specific wavelength - 1020nm, whilst water absorbs at 970nm, oil at 905nm and sugars at 820nm.
By measuring the amount of light that hits each detector element, then the amount of light absorbed at each wavelength can be calculated.
 |
| Figure 2: NIT Spectra of Grains and Oilseeds |
This allows the instrument to measure the concentration of each component. The more light that is absorbed, the higher the concentration. Typically this simple diode array spectrometer typically weighs approximately 7kg and is the size of a lunch box.
The spectrometer can be fitted to an instrument chassis with the appropriate sampling mechanism to make a NIR analyser for many different applications.
On Farm NIR Analysers
The CropScan range of On Farm NIR Analyser includes the CropScan 1000 and 3000 configurations.
The CropScan 1000G (see figure 3) is a portable whole grain analyser designed to provide farmers with the ability to measure their grains before the truck leaves the farm gate.
The 1000G can be run from a car adapter and suits operation in a utility vehicle, a tractor or a combine. Grain can be analysed in less than 60 seconds for protein, moisture and oil.
The farmer can use the information to segregate the crop by protein and oil in order to capture ‘higher-grade’ premiums. The superior accuracy of the NIR for measuring moisture provides farmers with the ability to know when to strip and when to dry their grains.
The CropScan 3000H On Combine Analyser is the only proven whole grain analyser to operate on virtually any combine harvester.
Read the full article HERE.
The Global Miller
This blog is maintained by The Global Miller staff and is supported by the magazine GFMT
which is published by Perendale Publishers Limited.
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