The SMRI-NIRS technology Part 2: Improving factory performance

Abstract

The Sugar Milling Research Institute NPC (SMRI) has developed a Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) analytical method for use in sugarcane factories, initially for use in South Africa, in place of conventional analytical methods. Details on the development, validation and benefit of the SMRI-NIRS analytical method are reported in Part 1 of this paper (Walford 2019). By 2019 all South African sugarcane processing factories had discontinued conventional analyses in favour of the SMRI-NIRS method for factory control purposes. The SMRI-NIRS method predicts analytical results of dry solids, polarimetric sugar, sucrose (HPLC), glucose, fructose, conductivity ash contents as well as ICUMSA colour and pH value from a single NIRS scan of any suitably diluted sugarcane process stream sample. Final molasses dry solids can also be predicted. In addition to improved laboratory output, the additional analytical data can be used to improve factory performance. This paper gives examples of where the SMRI-NIRS technology, the analytical method and the associated decision-support toolkits, have been used in South African factories, to improve factory sucrose recoveries and the reporting of factory performance figures.