Miller Magazine Issue: 144 December 2021

68 COVER STORY MILLER / december 2021 screen showing application-specific tuning parameters, is easy for operators to use. The Nimbus BSI+ uniquely combines lasers with NIR, vis- ible spectroscopy, and TOMRA’s patented BSI+ scanner, which can detect objects’ biometric characteristics. This is also a free-fall machine: a feed shaker or hopper uniformly spreads the product over the free-fall chute, and after the product falls down to the inspection zone, it is scanned by cameras, lasers or BSI+, or a combination of these. A few milliseconds after this assessment is made, the defects are hit with a precise and powerful burst of air which sends them into the rejection zone while the good product continues its natural free-fall. The Nimbus BSI+’s sophisticated technologies enable it to ‘see’ through a broader spectrum than other machines and to make more accurate decisions about the acceptability and grading of materials on the line. When equipped with the BSI+ scanner, the Nimbus is capable of detecting both color and chemical composition in the same pass, and of re- moving unwanted materials and product defects that would get past other sorters undetected - and when the Nimbus is equipped with the Detox laser module, it can also detect the presence of aflatoxin. One of the businesses that have significantly benefitted from using the Nimbus BSI+ is Legumbres Selectas Sierra Nevada, a Spanish enterprise specializing in superior-qual- ity pulses. The company’s CEO, Vicente Jiménez Blanes, says: “When I first saw this machine in operation, I knew it was exceptional, but I never imagined what it was capable of. The results are amazing: 99.9% product purity, and we have gone from processing 500 kilograms per hour to a total installed capacity of 5,000 kilograms per hour. The leap has been spectacular - installing the two Nimbus BSI+ machines is the best thing we’ve done in our company’s 57-year his- tory.” Another very satisfied user of the TOMRA 3C, and of the IXUS, is Termont & Thomaes, a successful business in the Netherlands which has been specializing in the sale of le- gumes, grains and seeds for more than 100 years. Ettienne Notschaele, process operator at the company’s plant in the town of Biervliet, commented: “With TOMRA’s machines, product quality and process quantities both increase. The result of using the TOMRA 3C and the IXUS is lower yield- loss and happier customers. We are also very happy with the guidance and help we get from TOMRA, whose team really put their heads together to come up with solutions which help us progress.” The TOMRA 3C combines high-resolution cameras with LED lighting plus laser or NIR units to remove foreign materials and product defects.