Colour sorting has become an integral and indispensable part of every grains and seeds processing line, whether intended for food production or for other purposes.

1. C
olour sorting has become an
integral and indispensable part of
every grains and seeds processing
line, whether intended for food
production or for other purposes.
In the past the electronic
sorters were used to separate
contaminants and foreign seeds
having a different appearance,
while today the end users’ demand has gradually changed
towards stricter and challenging sorting needs.
These changing requirements have encouraged advances
in technology and the development of more and more
sophisticated Optical Sorters.
Traditional colour sorters for separation of impurities
through monochromatic cameras are still in use today, but
the ever-stricter human food standards have led to a request
of a greater efficiency in identifying impurities.
CIMBRIA is continuously focusing in research and
development of the ultimate technologies to get the best
sorting performances and SEA CHROME represents the
latest electronic sorter with the ability to combine Real Full-
Colour cameras with InGaAs and NIR technologies.
With the use of high-tech Full-Colour cameras and
software capability to work beyond the light spectrum of the
human eye, SEA CHROME can identify defective elements
not only by contrast, but can separate unwanted grains with
similar colours, textures and shapes.
SEA CHROME is appreciated and applied in very
challenging situations, for which the highest sorting accuracy
is required. It means that identification and abatement of
damaged kernels such as Fusarium or Deoxynivalenol
(DON) is now possible, as well as the chance to distinguish
elements containing gluten from gluten-free cereals (maize,
rice, buckwheat) and also grains difficult to separate with
conventional monochromatic or bichromatic cameras, such
as wheat from barley and vice versa.
Demand for colour sorting equipment continues to rise in
line with the ever-increasing number of standards, that’s why
customers install SEA CHROME as a necessary part of their
seed and grain processing plants.
In Europe, Africa, Canada and USA several Cimbria SEA
sorters are supplied to the agricultural/food sector to remove
colour defects from cereals running in standard set up and,
when using the InGaAs cameras, they are able to perform
challenging separations, such as un-hulled from hulled
grains.
SEA CHROME is equipped with full-color RGB cameras
and shape-sizing integrated function, to sort impurities
according to their geometric characteristics. In combination
with HSI software system, allowing a near human eye
vision, SEA CHROME is successfully installed even for the
separation of soft and durum wheat by seed producers.
SEA CHROME is available from one to seven chutes,
to satisfy high-capacity demands. Program settings and
adjustments are performed through user-friendly software,
which displays the real image picture directly on the touch-
screen, to help identifying the defective elements to sort out.
SEA CHROME represents the state-of-the-art optical
sorting technology, able to match the increasingly stringent
requirements of the food and seed industries, with the ability
to detect and reject products having a similar color but
with different shades, thus ensuring that safety and purity
requirements are met.
Separation of different
kinds of grains The latest challenge of sea chrome
54 | March 2016 - Milling and Grain
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