South African Sugar Industry Standardizes on Bruker FT-NIR Systems

ETTLINGEN, Germany -- Bruker today announced that the South African sugar industry has recently acquired 14 MPA(TM) (Multi Purpose Analyzer) Bruker Optics FT-NIR (Fourier Transform Near-Infrared) systems for their sugar factories across South Africa.

The sugar industry will commence with the analysis of bagasse extracts for cane payment at all South African mills in the 2012/2013 season. At the same time, the analysis of various factory juice streams will commence at a number of mills. The accurate analysis of the composition of a number of factory streams in a sugar mill is of high importance to ensure the optimum operation of the factory. The Bruker FT-NIR MPA systems will be used to analyse factory streams including mixed juice, syrup, clear juice, A-, B- and C-molasses, as well as A-, B- and C-Massecuite. Components analysed will include, but not be limited to pol, brix, fructose, glucose, sucrose, ash and dry solids.

Calibrations developed and validated by the Sugar Milling Research Institute (SMRI) in South Africa are used to complement the Bruker FT-NIR systems. Implementation at all sugar mills in South Africa will be completed by the start of the season for 2012.

Mr. Seelan Naidoo, General Manager with the South African Sugar Association (SASA) - Cane Testing Service (CTS) division, commented: "The investment in high-performance NIR instrumentation from Bruker for cane payment and factory quality control is in line with our focus to improve control of laboratory and production processes in a most efficient way. In this context, Bruker's FT-NIR analyzers are a key element to support this strategy. For many years, Bruker has been a trusted partner and competent supplier to the sugar industry."

Dr. Jorg-Peter Conzen, Vice President of Bruker Optics Ltd., added: "FT-NIR spectroscopy is a powerful analytical technique which allows the accurate and non-destructive analysis of sugars and sugar-based products. The analysis is carried out in approximately 10 seconds without any sample preparation, making FT-NIR an ideal technique to be applied in QA/QC laboratories of the sugar industry. We have had a mutual cooperation with SASA for more than 5 years now, and we are very grateful that the South African sugar industry has chosen our solutions."

source: marketwatch