The Brimrose AOTF-NIR Spectrometer is an excellent tool for the measurement of properties in food and dairy products. The AOTF technology enables the Brimrose spectrometer to scan very fast and without using moving parts. This makes it the ideal tool for real-time, on-line industrial process control. The Brimrose 16 channel multiplexer provides cost-effective measurement of multiple streams in a production process. Analyzers can be placed at numerous points in the process and calibrations can be transferred from the laboratory to the industrial process.
The Brimrose AOTF-NIR spectrometer has numerous applications in the dairy industry. Readings on various products such as milk, butter, cheese, and margarine can be done quickly and accurately in an industrial environment. Properties that can be measured in dairy products include fat, protein, and moisture. The Brimrose Free Space technology allows scanning through a container without any interference to the product. Shown to the left is a Brimrose Free Space unit scanning milk directly through the container wall and on the right a diagram of spectra of milk with different amounts of fat.
Spray Dryer Analysis of Moisture and Particle Size
The Brimrose AOTF-NIR spectrometer can make real-time on-line measurements in a NIRO spray dryer. Properties that can be measured in a spray dryer include moisture and particle size in various products, caffeine in decaffeinated coffee, and fat, protein, and lactose in milk powder. This diagram shows a Brimrose Luminar 2030 Free Space spectrometer mounted onto a spray dryer. This unit and another unit were multiplexed to scan spectra on two dryers and real-time readings were taken every five seconds.
Corned Beef
It is critical to measure fat and moisture content in corned beef and the Brimrose AOTF-NIR spectrometer has proven to be an excellent tool for doing this. The block diagram to the right shows how the Brimrose instrument can be used in the process for making corned beef. A fiber-optic probe connected to a Brimrose multiplexer can make real-time on-line measurements of fat and moisture content in both the cooker and the blender. The spectral diagram on the left shows 140 spectra of corned beef samples which were taken in the laboratory. These spectra were used to create calibration models for fat and moisture which were then transferred to the industrial process control spectrometer.
Orange Juice
The Brimrose AOTF-NIR spectrometer has also been used in an orange juice production line to measure sugar content, brix and acidity. Feed lines of juice with varying brix and acidity content are fed into a blender. The Brimrose instruments provides real-time process control readings on the contents of the blender. A multiplexer, fiber optics, and flow cells provide information on the parameters of the orange juice and this information is used in Modbus to provide process feedback and control in a closed loop. The Brimrose multiplexer allows for readings to be taken from up to 16 different points in the process.
Product Shelf Life
Interestingly, the Brimrose AOTF-NIR spectrometer can be used to test the shelf life of food products and difference between process areas. A Brimrose Luminar 2060 spectrometer can use a transflectance probe to take readings on food products that have been on the shelf or coming out of certain areas of the production process. The Brimrose instrument is accurate and fast enough to take readings every 20 seconds to determine these parameters in food. The pictures to the right and left show the Brimrose Luminar 2060 spectrometer and scores plot of shelf life of red hot sauce. It is readily apparent that the Brimrose AOTF-NIR spectrometer is able to use spectral data to determine the shelf life of hot sauce.
For
More Information Please Contact:
process@brimrose.com Brimrose Corporation of America
19 Loveton Circle,
Baltimore, Maryland 21152-9201
Tel:
410-472-7070
FAX: 410-472-7960
