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Grain & Feed Milling Technology is published six times a year by Perendale Publishers Ltd of the United Kingdom.All data is published in good faith, based on information received, and while every care is taken to prevent inaccuracies, the publishers accept no liability for any errors or omissions or for the consequences of action taken on the basis of information published. ©Copyright 2010 Perendale Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without prior permission of the copyright owner. Printed by Perendale Publishers Ltd. ISSN: 1466-3872

Digital Re-print - November | December 2011 Get in line - Process analysis solutions open new opportunities for improved profit and quality

www.gfmt.co.uk

The use of NIR technology as an analyti-cal technique is far from new to the grain and feed milling industry.

In many parts of the world it has been a mainstay of grain quality analysis for more than 20 years and the benefits of the technology are well understood. So what is the next step for this technology? As with many aspects of food and agricultural quality control today, the answer lies in the field of in-line near infrared analysis.

But even in-line NIR is not a new concept. The potential benefits of moving the instru-

ment from the lab to the production line where it can take constant measurements hour after hour and day after day have been clear to quality controllers and production managers for years.

Until recently however, the technology has failed to meet the challenge with filter-based near infrared technology unable to deliver the sort of savings hoped for.

All that has changed with the advent of new Diode Array based solutions teamed with strong calibrations and the latest computing technology.

One company already making good use of

the technology development is Spanish pre-mium flour suppliers Emilio Esteban.

With the help of an in-line, near infrared process monitoring solution called ProFoss from Foss, it is raising high quality standards to new levels while gaining more vision and insight into the milling process.

From laboratory to productionA flour production facility like the one at

the Emilio Esteban flour mill in Spain typically produces around 100 kilos of premium grade flour every minute.

That’s not a huge output by industry stand-ards, but plenty for the staff at the in-house laboratory to control as they strive to ensure that deliveries always match the high standards of discerning customers, including, amongst oth-ers, producers of baby food.

Company director Emilio Esteban sets out the business strategy in the current competitive business landscape.

“There are basically two options. Either you go for high capacity and compete on price or you invest in high quality.”

With a high quality strategy in mind, Esteban

and his staff have acquired a helping hand - or ‘eye’ to be more precise - in the form of the ProFoss.

Mounted directly in production at the final steps in the milling process, the ProFoss moni-tors the flour as it flows through pipes at up to 25 metres a second. This avoids the need for a bypass stream to collect samples. The instru-ment is housed in a practical and robust stainless steel cabinet (ATEX approved).

While it may not win any design awards, the wealth of information the ProFoss provides is something for any quality controller to get excited about.

The analyser automatically monitors mois-ture, protein and ash every few seconds and the regular results are fed back to a computer in the mill control room where they are displayed in a graphical form using Foss ISIscan software. The charts resemble a seismic graph. A nice straight line indicates that the flour composition is on target, but with a tremor indicated if something starts to go off track. This allows anyone work-ing in production to see at a glance whether everything is running to plan.

The new system does exactly the same job

Get in lineProcess analysis solutions open new opportunities for improved profit and qualityby Darren Robey, Foss, Denmark

12 | november - december 2011 Grain&feed millinG technoloGy

FEATURE

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y Measure chemical composition as soon as you receive your raw materials. y Estimate technical values of flours, semolinas, grits, glutens, starches (and other powders products).y Moisture, protein, ash content, zeleny, hydration*. (* choose from over 60 calibrations available)

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infraneo_junior_GB_190x132mm.indd 1 24/02/2011 14:24:49november - december 2011 | 13 Grain&feed millinG technoloGy

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Laboratory manager, Antonio Caballero conducted a study which indicates very similar performance for both instruments. And, of par-ticular importance is the fact that even though the performances of the two solutions are very similar, the frequency of measurement with the ProFoss system allows trends and irregularities to be spotted more quickly.

Other applications?While the benefits for flour production

are clearly demonstrated in the story above, it doesn’t take a great deal of lateral thinking to see the application of this technology in other parts of the grain and feed supply chain.

Thankfully the answer to this question is very much yes.

A similar story to the one above can be told in protein meal production where the instrument has demonstrated similar levels of benefit.

Likewise whole grain is an area where this technology can provide significant benefits to grain handlers. Whether it be at intake into the mill, on loading a bulk vessel or in the elevator conducting in stream segregation or blending, having real time inline analysis can have significant benefits over bench top techniques.

One novel use for in line analysis might well be fraud prevention.

Anyone handling grain has heard a story of someone delivering a load of grain who has taken it upon themselves to mix some poor grain, perhaps high moisture or low protein, in areas of the load where they know the sample spear won’t reach, while putting the good grain on top.

With inline analysis, such practices will soon be found as inline analysis takes sam-ples from a much higher proportion of the load as it passes through the elevator. Sure, once the product is in the plant or silo it is too late, but such monitoring combined with appropriate penalties will soon see those wanting to beat the system either stop the practice or at least divert their attention to the receiver who isn’t so alert.

The simple fact is that inline NIR is always alert and is constantly checking quality.

arriving at the lab, but these don’t represent the whole process. ProFoss is another concept – it is placed inline and provides constant and continuous information, so in case there is any problem, you can react immediately and that is the key.”

According to laboratory manager Antonio Caballero, the accuracy of ProFoss is equal to the Infratec when measuring protein, moisture and ash.

Besides this, with ProFoss, he believes that traceability has increased as the company now has a more comprehensive picture of quality.

“I believe that improved control of the process will increase qual-ity levels and give us a com-petitive edge,” says Caballero.

“We will also improve traceability, as we know exactly how the process is working. And overall, we will increase the quality of our products.”

An obvious consideration was whether the accuracy of measure-ments with the ProFoss would be comparable to the exist-ing desktop Infratec 1241 grain analyser used in the laboratory.

as the previous analysis instrument in the labora-tory, but now measurements are made several times a minute instead of every few hours. It is this frequency that helps to keep production right on target. It also reduces the risk of varia-tions in content of products when a new batch is started.

Esteban sums up the advantage of con-tinuous measurement and the difference in comparison to the Infratec 1241 Grain Analyser located in the laboratory.

“Infratec and ProFoss are completely differ-ent devices,” he says.

“The reason for this is where they are situated. Infratec allows you to analyse samples

14 | november - december 2011 Grain&feed millinG technoloGy

FEATURE

GFMT11.06.indd 14 30/11/2011 17:28 GFMT11.06.indd 15 30/11/2011 17:29

Grain&feed millinG technoloGy november - december 2011 | 3

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In this issue:

• Mycotoxins an overview

• Database for animal diet formulation techniques: A glance to last decade

• Food safetyin the grain milling industry

• Recent advances in rapid grain testing

November - December 2011

• African advances

Animal feed milling is one of the most buoyant activities in the agri related field

• Optical sorting Optical sorting has come of

age and should be considered as a serious option for inclusion in any modern wheat cleaning plant

• Get in lineProcess analysis solutions open new opportunities for improved profit and quality

GFMT11.06.indd 1 30/11/2011 17:28

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