World Grain - October 2011 - 76

MILLINGOPERATIONS

A new imaging method for millers
Near infrared focal plane array quantitative imaging has potential application to mill process development and management
by Jeff Gwirtz

This is a brief summary of the paper “Near Infrared Focal Plane Array Quantitative Imaging of Break Stock” presented at the 115th Annual IAOM Conference and Expo, Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, May 4, 2011 in San Antonio, Texas, U.S. The presentation was possible through the collaborative work of Mark D. Boatwright, David L. Wetzel, Jeff A. Gwirtz and Tyler R. Nickoley in the Grain Science & Industry Department, at Kansas State University (KSU). Boatwright, a milling science and management graduate, is presently a graduate student supervised by Wetzel in the Microbeam Molecular Spectroscopy Laboratory. Nickoley, an undergraduate milling science and management chemistry option student in the Microbeam Laboratory, contributed in both the analysis and milling aspects of the project. The milling work directed by Gwirtz was performed in the Milling Teaching Laboratory in the Grain Science & Industry Department, KSU. The purpose of the work was to engage students going into the milling ﬁeld with exposure to an innovative application of an analytical tool. The information collected is currently used in the classroom to connect students with recently developed technology that has practical application in solving processing challenges and enhances student knowledge. The chemical imaging scheme for the determination of endosperm yield developed in a research project at KSU is already being used as a teaching tool. This project fosters initiative to seek out innovative solutions as an important attribute for upcoming industry leaders. By exposing our undergraduate milling students to the Table 1. Capabilities explored in the Microbeam Laboratory and previously published
1. Chemical distribution in a wheat kernel including lipid in the scutellem, protein in the embryonic axis and carbohydrate in the checks of the kernel. 2. Early nondestructive determination of germination (developing embryo) detection in a sprouted kernel. 3. Distinction from waxy wheat from normal wheat. 4. Identification of a feed mixture containing corn and soybean meal. 5. Results of a ribbon mixer homogeneity experiment with corn and soybean mill supplement.

capability of mathematical estimation of the product of successive steps in a segment of the operation, results in endosperm yield and mass balance are revealed. In the article, the recently developed analytical tool is demonstrated for practical use as a method to enable mill optimization. The optical method applied to ﬂour milling intermediate product on a research project by Wetzel, Posner and Dogan was published “Indium Antimonide Focal Plane Array Chemical Imaging Enables Assessment of Unit Process Efﬁciency for Milling Operation” in the scientiﬁc journal Applied Spectroscopy (December Issue, Appl. Spectroscopy, 2010, 64(10), the ofﬁcial publication of the Society of Applied Spectroscopy. Due to instrument sophistication and cost it is not yet suitable for analysis on a day to day basis in mill operation analysis. However, it is a valuable tool that can be used in the design and optimization of operational settings in the commissioning of new equipment. Table I shows information about method capabilities which have been identiﬁed in the Microbeam Laboratory. Near infrared radiation from the quartz tungsten halogen lamp shines on the sample where it is diffusely reFig. 1. InSb focal plane array liquid crystal tunable filter imaging instrument
Electronics for FPA and LCTF Focal plane array (camera) Liquid crystal tunable filter Lens Lamp

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