Automated In-Line Moisture Monitoring Increases Productivity
Reduces waste and energy costs and improves process efficiency
Incorporating the right combination of automation tools can help production facilities overcome challenges posed by outdated machinery and labor-intensive procedures that hinder overall productivity. One key example is automated moisture monitoring, where the “steel collar” worker automates mundane, repetitive, and time-consuming tasks, allowing valuable human resources to focus on more critical jobs and eliminate inefficiencies that hinder peak production. When installed directly on the production line, automated moisture monitoring significantly reduces human error inherent in time-consuming and out-of-date manual processes. Incorporating moisture measurement during production allows the user to create a closed-loop process and have full control over the production line. While several methods are available, the use of near-infrared (NIR) technology can produce a high return on investment (ROI).
Benefits of moisture content measurement equipment and processes:
Moisture measurements are used throughout many manufacturing processes, from examining incoming raw materials, to ensuring final product quality and shipping weight. Moisture ranges outside of tolerance can inhibit the production process and even create wear and tear on other equipment. Each phase of the manufacturing process runs more efficiently and profitably with accurate moisture content.
In the past, many firms have relied on manual moisture testing and measurement methods, but these old school methods are notoriously subject to errors and are a known primary cause of many production issues. Manual moisture monitoring essentially requires a laboratory setup in a controlled environment. Samples need to be immediately sealed in plastic or glass jars once taken from the production line and taken for testing. The moisture content will naturally change every minute that passes once the sample is removed from the production line, throwing off the final results. Older manual testing methods (for example, ovens) often lose the ability to test samples accurately.
Moisture control systems automate and accelerate many of these mundane inspection-based quality tasks. Adding the automation of moisture detection throughout the production process can eliminate the frequent mistakes and allow for a closed loop process when tied directly into a programmable logic control (PLC) system. With critical points of production being monitored for moisture content, everything from the raw material to the finished product can be precisely monitored for accuracy and quality.
In addition, moisture measurement systems tied into the process controller can easily detect out of spec products so they can be dealt with immediately to ensure additional product is not affected. When issues are identified early, corrections can be made long before an imperfect or contaminated product reaches consumers.
Real-time process control with moisture detection provides true product data that can be used to improve operation efficiency. This reduces wasted effort and materials, and decreases the frequency of downtime, manual intervention, and defective goods. Real-time control of moisture leads to significant cost savings, in terms of energy, spoilage, down time, quality control rejects, and customer complaints. For processes that can be closely controlled using real-time measurements, in-line systems in feedback-loops often produce a high return on investment (ROI).
Automated inline moisture measurement using NIR technology is widely used in pet food, human food, minerals, bulk materials, and wood/biomass applications, as well as paper and plastics, bioenergy, and textiles and nonwovens. In recent years, it has been used for dried distiller grains (DDG) in the production of ethanol. Here are a few examples showing how the technology helped manufacturers improve their manufacturing process.
Quality and consistency are crucial when it comes to maintaining a manufacturing line. Implementing an automated moisture control sensor instantly reduces waste and energy costs as well as improves the efficiency of the line. In many cases, manufacturers can achieve a very favorable ROI.
