Des Moines, Iowa, USA
September 3, 2014
Bratney Companies, a leading innovator in seed and grain conditioning equipment, announced it has added BoMill to its quality line of products. The patented technology incorporated into BoMill’s “single-kernel” design gives operators the ability to analyze the quality of an entire lot of cereal grain thereby sorting (at a molecular level) individual grain kernels based on levels of protein, vitreousness, or fusarium (DON).
“The addition of BoMill is another example of Bratney’s long-standing commitment to offering the most advanced technologies available to our customers,” said Bruce Bratney, Business Development Manager at Bratney Companies. “With BoMill quality sorting technology, it’s now possible to segregate high quality fractions out of grain lots that have a lower average quality, at production capacities. This is an exciting next step in electronic sorting technology that goes beyond color/optical sorters.”
BoMill AB is a Swedish company founded in 2001 by Bo Lofqvist, a biochemist who spent several years in the cereal grains technology sector prior to starting his entrepreneurial business. After 10 years of development, BoMill placed pilot machines in Europe and North America, gaining invaluable operational experience in the field. In 2013, the first high-capacity full production system – with five (5) Model TriQ’s – was installed and is operating successfully at a durum wheat milling facility in Europe, producing high quality flour for pasta production.
Benefits to BoMill “Single-Kernel” Quality Sorting Technology:
- Improve Food Security by removal of fusarium infested kernels or (DON) from a grain lot. Only the technology found in BoMill can penetrate a kernel and identify the “chemical fingerprint” of a fusarium infestation; a color sorter cannot do this. The removal of just a few percentages of kernels can upgrade a batch of contaminated wheat from being rejected for food or even feed to a PPB purity level acceptable for premium food production.
- Improve Durum Wheat Quality by sorting according to vitreousity; kernels from the same field may vary significantly in hardness units.
- Improve Food Quality by sorting wheat according to protein content; wheat kernels from the same field may vary in protein from 7% to 17%.
- Improve Food Quality by upgrading “feed” barley, purchased at a reduced price, and sort to a uniform composition according to protein content or reduced cell-wall thickness that results in improved malting efficiency.
The TriQ, BoMill’s production unit, is designed for a 24/7 operations environment. Its capacity is approximately 1,440,000 wheat kernels per minute (about 3.25 metric-tons per hour) and sorts up to three fractions. Multiple units can easily be positioned to achieve higher overall capacities.
The TriQ consists of a rotating steel drum configured with rows of machined pockets that pick up the grain. As the drum rotates, it first passes a detector which, by spectral inspection (Near Infrared Transmission [NIT] spectroscopy) and its processor, internally analyses the chemical properties of each kernel through at least 10 discrete points. Immediately downstream, a series of air injectors are positioned over three sorting troughs and are activated by the processor to accomplish the desired segregations based on limits set by an operator using a touch-screen tablet. BoMill also offers a laboratory model called the “IQ” that can be used to simulate the performance of the TriQ and for checking sorting efficiency.
Bratney’s long history in the design and construction of ag-product processing plants uniquely qualifies them to provide a range of technical services associated with incorporating BoMill into new or existing facilities. The company can provide anything from preliminary process flows and budgeting to full turnkey installation services.
And, as with all of Bratney’s proprietary equipment, the company provides spare parts and service for BoMill equipment through its well-stocked warehouse and service department. A highly trained service team based in Des Moines is available for scheduled maintenance or for emergency repairs, nationwide.
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