Miller Magazine Issue 110 / February 2019

64 COVER STORY MILLER / FEBRUARY 2019 easy to reap the value to the right product. Therefore, in the field of wheat or wheat market, an economic and portable instrument was needed to provide reliable re- sults and basic analyses in a short period of time. The IM8800 portable NIR instrument meets these needs with moisture, protein and gluten analysis. A quick analysis allows ma- nufacturers to perform more measurements in a short time. You can do all analysis with ac- curacy and confidence within minutes with Perten NIR ins- truments without waiting for hours. So you can better cont- rol and optimize the mill. For this purpose, Perten has deve- loped the new model IM9520. With this instrument, you can perform analysis of moisture, protein, ash, starch and other parameters in ground wheat, flour and bran. The DA 7250 is the most ad- vanced and precise NIR device. With its dust-proof feature, it can analyze all grain, flour, se- molina, bran, bakery products and many other samples without grinding or any other preparation. It can measure moisture, protein, ash, as well as water absorption, starch damaged and more. It is designed to analyze not only wheat and flour, but also all kinds of grains and oilseeds, feed raw materials and end products without any chemical or sample preparation.. Optimizing Mill Performance with Measurements NIR technology can be used to perform real-time measurements even during the production. In this way, it can see the fluctuations in production, find out the problems immediately and make quick interventi- ons. The on-line NIR DA 7300 can be permanently ins- talled in flour pipes and can continuously measure the amount of moisture, protein, ash, gluten, color, and the speck count in flour. It can also be connected to control systems for automation. The milling process requires constant monitoring – especially at grain change overs. In-process NIR instru- ments allow millers to blend grain to a specific targeted protein while other instruments monitor flour properties. The in-process DA 7300 instrument provide real-time streaming results for moisture, ash and protein allowing millers to readily blend flour streams to meet specificati- ons. The measurement of ash in particular is a key indica- tor of yield and is the parameter most often optimized. A reduction of ash variation can produce many extra tons of flour in a year thereby paying for instrument costs in a relatively short period of time. After payoff, the gains go directly to the bottom line. The DA 7300 in-process sys- tem also incorporates a built-in camera which measures specks. This allows millers to detect broken sieves as soon as they happen thereby eliminating wasted production time. At-line and lab based systems perform similar func- tions – just not in the process. However, the instruments are more versatile as they can often analyze whole whe- at, flour, and even bake mixes. In addition several rheological measurements are com- monly performed, such as water absorption, dough de- velopment time, mixing tolerance, stability and others. Changes in these characteristics will have an impact on how the flour behaves in the bakery, so it’s important to maintain consistency over time. The traditional met- hod for determining these parameters takes about 20 minutes to perform. The new AACCI approved method 54-70.01, High-Speed Mixing Rheology of Wheat Flour Using the doughLAB, is twice as fast, measures at higher RPMs which more closely emulates today’s commercial dough mixers, and more readily resolves the develop- ment peak. These rheological measurements are used to monitor flour produced and prior to load-out. The results on flours and streams can be “virtually” blended using the doughLAB software. This allows millers to cre- ate flour with the necessary properties without having to run tests on every potential blend. Milling flour is a complex process. It continues to evolve despite the fact that it is one of humanities’ most ancient endeavors. There are many recent developments and useful tools that help millers optimize grain purchasing, milling, and ensure that their customers receive a flour of consistent quality capable of making good finished products. DA7250 DA7300 On-line