Accurate, rapid and reliable grain analyzers are important tools to the grain industry. Whether trading or processing grain, grain quality testing is at the heart of the business. Moisture, protein, oil and specific weight (Hectoliter Weight / Test Weight) are among the most commonly determined quality parameters.

1. Digital Re-print - November | December 2011
Recent advances in rapid grain testing
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2. FEATURE
measurement cell containing a radio trans- units has improved
Recent advances in mitter and receiver. As the radiowave is
sent into the sample and it hits water mol-
ecules, it is changed and exits the sample
50 percent thanks
to updates in
electronics and
Technology
rapid grain testing looking a bit different. The moisture meter
reads the radiowave as it exits the sample
and detects the amount of change. The
improvements in
factory standardiza-
tions.
engineering
Service
change correlates to the amount of water
by Stefan Tordenmalm, Product Manager, Perten Instruments AB, Sweden in the sample. A mathematical formula Summary
is applied to derive the correct moisture By employing
unchanging content. To present the moisture content the latest advanc-
A
ccurate, rapid and reliable grain other applications. over time, in percent, the total sample is weighed, and es in instrumenta-
analyzers are important tools Remote service and support is facili- and trace- able the amount of water detected is divided by tion, grain handling
to the grain industry. Whether tated through internet communication to a fixed the sample weight. organizations will
trading or processing grain, grain and modern software tools. An exam- reference. A few years ago, the US Department be able to grade
quality testing is at the heart of the ple is the Inframatic 9500 from Perten Matching of Agriculture (USDA) introduced an grain more accu-
business. Moisture, protein, oil and Instruments where TeamViewer software instrument improvement to RF moisture testing using rately and confi-
specific weight (Hectoliter Weight / Test is pre-installed on all instruments allowing hardware a 150 MHz signal instead of the older 1-10 dently. They will
Weight) are among the most commonly support staff to connect securely to instru- allows users MHz. This brought about significant accu- also benefit from
determined quality parameters. ments regardless of location. to get the racy improvements in moisture testing. improved reliabil- Visit us at
More specific improvements to NIR same results from Approximately 1,000 instruments world- ity and lower costs VICTAM 2012
Radio Frequency (RF) moisture meters instruments and RF moisture testers are the same samples on different instru- wide use the new technique. of ownership. Booth D 091
and Near InfraRed (NIR) analyzers have reviewed in the following sections. ments. Often labeled transferability as it More recently the USDA presented Whether moisture
been used for decades to determine these relates to using one calibration on multiple an update to the 150 MHz technology is the only param-
parameters. While moisture testing is ubiq- NIR grain analysis improvements instruments, transferability makes possible where further improvements were made. eter that is tested,
uitous, NIR instruments are used when For readers who are unfamiliar with the networks of instruments used to analyze Overall accuracy has further improved, or a wider range
parameters such as protein or oil must basics of NIR technology, we start with a and grade entire commodities of grain and it’s now possible to test moisture with of traits are deter-
supplement the moisture measurement. short introduction. across a wide geographical area. It ensures accuracy in frozen grain to -20C. mined, the most
This has long been the case for wheat in As implied, infrared light is used in Near payments are made fairly and equitably The AM 5200 uses the updated 150 MHz recent equipment
many countries, and for oilseeds in fewer InfraRed grain analyzers. The general prin- based upon measureable quality attributes. technology and is officially approved in the offers significant
countries. As more and more markets Newer instruments incorporate several USA by the National Type Evaluation Program benefits compared www.petkus.de
ciple is that substances such as moisture,
introduce grain pricing based on factors protein and fat absorb specific wavelengths methods for hardware matching. The first (NTEP). Compared to its predecessor, the AM to the previous
Benefit through Technology www.mmw-group.com
such as protein or oil content, the interest of infrared light. The higher the concentra- is an optics bench made from a single piece 5100, repeatability and agreement between generations.
in NIR instruments increases. tion, the more light is absorbed. A parallel of machined metal. Being a single piece,
Currently there are as many as 10,000 is found in how juice of higher concen- its dimensions and characteristics do not
NIR grain analyzers in use globally, and tration is darker than those of lower change over the life of the instrument. For
more than 15,000 RF moisture meters. concentrations (see picture). In the same the next improvement, it’s useful to employ
Although previous models have been high- way we can easily see which glass contains the digital camera analogy. Those who
ly useful for grain grading, recent advances the strongest tasting juice, an NIR instru- have compared two photos of the same
Heat Recovery Dryer
30%
help grain companies become even more ment can see the difference in protein object taken with two different cameras
efficient. content between different grain samples. will know that colors don’t always match.
NIR instruments use a lamp to illuminate The photo from one camera might have
Benefits of using modern IT the sample, and a detector measures how slightly stronger blues while the photo from
Touch screen technology is everywhere much of the light was absorbed by the the other camera could be stronger in reds.
today, and is now available in newer sample. A mathematical formula (calibra- To standardize digital cameras, reference
grain analyzers. Some of the most recent tion) is used to derive the protein concen- color charts with defined hues of red, blue, Up to
instruments incorporate large color-touch tration from the amount of absorbed light. yellow and other colors are used. For NIR
screens making them easier to operate
than older models with often-complicated
steps and menus. This helps operators
Modern NIR instruments implement
the most up to date electronics and hard-
ware meaning significant improvements
grain analyzers the equivalent reference is
a wavelength reference material, supplied
by the US National Institute of Standards
Energy Savings
avoid mistakes and costly errors. in accuracy and system performance are and Technology (NIST). The NIST standard With our Heat Recovery Dryer you get the
Modern instruments are built on achieved. While the general principle is consists of several components which each
lowest energy consumption on the market.
standardized software platforms such as easy enough to understand, designing and absorb light at a specific wavelength. These
Microsoft Windows and have USB and building accurate NIR grain analyzers is can be inserted in the NIR instrument at TORNUM Grain Coolers – The eco-friendly
Ethernet connections. Users can easily difficult. Getting good light absorption factory for standardization. This, - in combi- way of preserving grain quality.
connect printers, barcode readers, wireless information from a grain sample is similar nation with the single piece optics - results
communication etc, without being locked to taking photos in the dark without using in identical individual instruments from a
in by vendor specific solutions. An obvious a flash: you need high sensitivity, low noise measurement point of view. They produce
benefit is to the simplicity of access to detectors and electronics. Expensive, mod- the same result when analyzing the same
analytical results and exchange of data with ern cameras produce much better pictures sample. As an extra benefit, this creates full
than cameras just a few years old as traceability back to a fixed reference for
sensor and signal processing technologies ISO and other purposes.
have improved greatly. Older cameras
produce noisier photos. The same is true RF moisture testing
for NIR grain analyzers where the most improvements
recent models offer better accuracy. RF moisture testing is based on the TORNUM AB Box 100, SE-535 22 Kvänum, SwEdEn
A challenge when building NIR grain fact that radiowaves of certain frequencies Phone +46 (0)512–291 00 E-mail: info@tornum.com
analyzers is to ensure that all instru- interact with water molecules. In a mois- www.tornum.com
ments are identical (i.e. matched), robust, ture meter, the sample is dropped into a
28 | november - december 2011 Grain &feed millinG technoloGy Grain &feed millinG technoloGy november - december 2011 | 29

3. Food and Feed
Quality Control
Reference and Fast-Screening Methods
Discover the perfect interaction of BUCHI Instruments for food and feed
quality control.
Solutions for protein analysis: BUCHI offers Kjeldahl Distillation and Digestion instruments ranging
from basic to fully automated. Kjeldahl serves as reference method for protein determination using NIR
Spectroscopy. The NIRMaster is the fi rst FT-NIR spectrometer, enabling rapid non-destructive
determination of protein content at the production line or in the QC lab.
Solutions for fat analysis: For fat determination explore the unique automated Soxhlet or Hot Extraction
instruments. These classical extraction techniques serve as reference methods for fat determination using NIR
Spectroscopy. The innovative NIRMaster is able to quantify fat content in just a few seconds per sample.
Additional information is available on: www.buchi.com
BÜCHI Labortechnik AG
9230 Flawil/Switzerland
T +41 71 394 63 63
www.buchi.com Quality in your hands

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