F

‘Let people eat good rice’

S

A revolution in colour sorter technology underway at Yongxiang by Dr Wenbin Wu, Editor – China Edition, Milling and Grain

ince ancient times, all over the world people have used their intellect and knowledge in developing rice cultivation and processing. Great progress has been made, with ever increasing grain yields and the continuous optimisation of varieties and improvements in processing technology; all becoming more and more advanced. With nearly 100 years of industrial technology, electronic technology and now the development of information technology, rice processing is a very modern practice, formed from the threshing, drying, cleaning, husking, rice milling, grading, polishing, colour and packaging as a complete production line. Since its inception as a grain machinery producer, Hubei Yongxiang Food Processing Machine Company has adhered to the concept of, ‘let people eat good rice’ by providing first-class products and services. Today this grain machinery company has a complete product lineup and provides a complete set of processing equipment. One critical component is the colour sorter with its mechanical technology, optical technology, electronic technology and application in rice processing excellence. Generally-speaking, colour is chosen by detecting defects on the surface of the material in order to ‘weed out’ foreign bodies or defective grains. For rice, the main defects are yellow - a large area of dis-colouration - and the disease spot - local small spots on the rice grain. In some cases, the colour choice is also used to identify glutinous rice and milled, japonica rice.

Quantum advances

With the advances in market demand, colour sorter technology is also constantly developing - from the earliest of the photoelectric sensor, analog electronic circuit, to the current CCD imaging technology, colour optional equipment on the number of channels from the single machine has developed to nearly 1000 channels. 78 | January 2017 - Milling and Grain

As the executive components of high-speed injection valves has significantly improved, not only is the response ability moved from hundreds of times per second to nearly 1500 times per second, the consumption of the gas sourced has been greatly improved as well and the application and combination with other technologies has meant that overall gas consumption has fallen by 50 percent making the working life of these machines greatly improved, possibly amounting to billions of times the original level. As opposed to the early photocell sensor, now widely used are linear CCD array sensors which have very high resolution, an appropriate optical system and can distinguish between objects as small as 0.02 mm2 disease spot defects. Based on the high-resolution images, engineers can design in a ‘view’ of the yellow and the disease spot recognition algorithm, respectively, than a lot of single threshold algorithm is superior photocell machine. At the same time, more and more intelligent algorithm can play a role, such as identifying the center of the grain to ensure that the spray valve blow at the most reasonable time. This minimises the scraps from the meters and in the consumption of compressed air, resulting in greater energy savings for customers and creating greater economic value.

Operating from a distance

Intelligent analysis is a key technology, allowing us to automatically debug more and more complex parameters hidden in the background. It is a simple interface for operators. Users only need to touch the button and the complex algorithm parameters can be realised automatically. For rare materials or the special requirements of customers, the device can be operated remotely via the Internet, by professional engineers to help customers solve problems. Light source for colour selection effect is remarkable. Blue spectrum light-yellow water can be more clearly distinguished from normal rice. Infrared wavelengths can be targeted while