Sharifah Nuruljannah Binti Syed Amran

2019878568
AS746 (FST 714)

Grain Optical Sorting: A Sorting Option to Be Better

Colour sorters (otherwise known as optical sorters) have been known to assist in production of high
quality and safe food in grain milling. Often, they are used to segregate out any observed physical
damage on the seeds, as well as other contaminants such as other grain contamination from the
product, in order to improve the overall product appearance and quality. Colour sorters are usually an
option in the grain milling industry – in other words, the whole wheat milling process will not be
necessarily or majorly affected by the presence or absence of the equipment during the cleaning
process, as compared to conventional equipment such as aspirators and destoners. However,
manufacturers are now going for the option of integrating colour sorters to the wheat cleaning process
as means to maximize yield and capitalizing on the production of high quality food.

Colour
Sorters
Integration of colour sorters after the destines to allow for removal
of smaller impurities of the seeds and other grains

Raw Wheat
Magnet Size Separator Aspirator Destoner Scourer
Bins

Moisture Control
Raw Wheat Bins Aspirator Tempering Bins
Unit

Figure 1. Integration of colour sorter during the wheat cleaning process

The colour sorters functions by inspecting grain using digital cameras which automatically identifies
any rejection criteria based on a given reference image standard of the product. The contaminants can
be removed by way of an ejection system during the sorting process – often using compressed air.

Figure 2. Schematic Diagram of Typical Colour / Optical Sorting Machines

(Source: Inamdar & Suresh, 2014)

Over the years, improvements have been made on the technology of colour sorters / optical sorters,
including the use of a more advanced imaging method (higher resolution cameras, introduction of new
sensors), increased chutes for larger sorting capacity or throughputs, software and hardware updates
as well as providing designs and functionality which are more user-friendly for maintaining and
cleaning (design improvement).

Advancement on imaging and sensing technology for example has provided the option of using
complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) instead of the widespread charged coupled
devices (CCD) sensors. This advancement was largely due to the fact that although CCD provides
Sharifah Nuruljannah Binti Syed Amran
2019878568
AS746 (FST 714)

high quality images at high resolution, it requires significant support electronics. CMOS image
sensors instead (in which productions are also cheaper than the CCD) use the required support
electronics which are integrated to the sensor chip.

However, the use of CCD are still the most widespread in the grain optical technology – which has
been widespread fitted with bi-chromatic or even tri-chromatic cameras (inclusion of red, blue, green
– RBG sensors) for better resolution on colour and shade differences.

The first generation color sorters used shades of black and white (monochromatic) to remove the
defects and impurities. Today due to advances in technology, color sorters are using high resolution
bichromatic cameras in addition to monochromatic cameras for inspection of grains in wider color
spectrum. Recently, the manufacturers are using infrared and ultraviolet sorting capabilities
combined with color detection technology to enable the inspection for foreign material with invisible
optical properties (Fowler, 2012).

Buhler Group, a leading global supplier of optical sorting solutions recently introduced the SORTEX
advanced optical sorting technology – providing optical sorting solutions for multiple grains including
soft/hard wheat and durum wheat. The SORTEX technology from Buhler claims to be able to remove
subtle defects and discoloration as conventional colour sorters do but with an addition if also being
able to identify and remove mycotoxins such as DON.

Emphasizing on four key points of the technology for high quality and safe foods, the SORTEX has
been known to be able to

a) Improve food safety by delivering the highest quality grain – with the SORTEX being able to
remove diseased grains contaminated with toxins and foreign materials or other grains from
the product for better appearance. Additionally, it has a dedicated Fusarium removal setup
and protein sorting for Durum wheat.

b) Maximising yield – through use of high precision ejection system that minimizes false reject
of good grain, thus only delivering a highly concentrated reject stream and also avoiding the
need to re-sort the product while running on high capacity

c) Delivering high capacity solutions – with a capacity of an estimated 500kg – 40 tonnes

(40,000kg) per hour of running. This way, production volume can be maintained with
minimum downtime for configuration change or maintenance due to overload.

d) Consistent performance, lower operation costs – with automated systems such as auto
calibration system and even self-cleaning settings such as wiping f the view area to self-
optimize and reduce operator interventions.