New NIR reveals more yield in flour milling

14 Mar 2012

FOSS announces the NIRS™ DS2500 flour analyser - a high performance near infrared (NIR) analyser offering new opportunities to improve yield in flour production.

The analyser gives unique levels of accuracy in measurement of ash which is a key indicator of yield. It also gives a high level of accuracy when measuring other parameters such as moisture protein and colour.

Seeing those small margins that other analysers can’t, the NIRS DS2500 helps millers to tune production for optimal results from production, for instance, getting just 0.1% closer to target on ash content can give a return on investment of under a year.

The accuracy is achieved with a new design that captures all the latest developments in quality control with NIR. Versatility in measuring different parameters is assured by a broad wavelength range of 400 to 2500nm. A high signal-to-noise ratio gives ultimate measure of ash and other low level parameters in need of high accuracy. Sub-sampling measures six different points per sample giving a wealth of data per sample for a tighter prediction range.

Ash accuracy, anywhere by anyone

A robust design ensures stable and highly accurate measurements over time. Anyone can perform the tests. Users just place some sample in the sample cup, push the button and wait a minute for results to appear on screen via the intuitive ISIscan Nova software.

The NIRS DS 2500 has been designed for high performance in the hardest production environments. It is IP65 certified to withstand humidity and dust and can tolerate vibration and fluctuations in temperature up to 40 °C and humidity of over 90%.

Everyone measures the same with transferable NIR

It’s easy to get started using the NIRS DS2500. Instruments are pre-calibrated with global artificial neural network (ANN) calibrations based on a comprehensive FOSS database built-up over decades of collaboration with the milling industry. Calibration data from earlier solutions can be transferred to the new platform using straightforward migration paths without any loss of performance.

Maintaining consistency between instruments and installing additional instrument units is also made simple. Every instrument that leaves the factory is hardware standardized to ensure complete consistency between instruments. Built-in measurement standards help to control instrument performance, ensuring that no deviations occur over time. Likewise, multiple instruments can use the same calibrations without any modifications.

Networking software allows units to be monitored and maintained remotely by NIR experts for optimal and consistent measurement performance over time.

Choice in NIR analysis of flour

The new high performance NIRS DS2500 compliments another new analyser for flour in the FOSS portfolio, the NIRS™ DA1650. FOSS grain market manager, Darren Robey said: “The NIRS DS2500 is the top of the range solution for those wanting the ultimate in NIR analysis while the NIRS DA1650 is a highly practical option that still offers good accuracy for key quality parameters. The choice in NIR analysis of flour has never been better.”

Source: FOSS