ARTICLE 50 FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE April 2022 Traditionally, NIR is seen as a large instrument placed on a bench in a laboratory, and while this is often still the case, in recent years the size of spectrometers has shrunk to the point where you can now carry one in your pocket allowing the device to be taken away from the laboratory to e.g. a feed mill, or into the field. In addition to being more portable, these hand-held NIR (HHNIR) devices are also very simple and straightforward to use. NIR analysis can be incorporated into many aspects of the feed manufacturing process: 1. Ingredient intake – approve or reject depending on supplier standards, update formulations, segregate ingredients in different silos based on the nutrient content 2. Grinding – ensure consistent particle size 3. Mixing – calculate mixer efficiency by scanning samples from the batch mixer 4. Loading – analyse finished feeds Hand-held devices have a wavelength coverage and resolution which allows a similar calibration accuracy to that of a benchtop instrument, and within expected uncertainty of the reference method (±11.5% for soybean meal crude protein by Dumas/ Kjeldahl) (Table 1). When plotted on a graph, there is no clear difference in the variability of results from any of the three analysis methods. It is interesting to note the variability between different reference methods is Practical use of hand-held NIR to evaluate the quality of incoming soybean meal NIR instruments can be used for several applications within the feed manufacturing process. Sending samples to a laboratory at a different location however can induce time delays, which may mean that fewer samples are sent and batches which are low quality may be accepted. Introducing a hand-held NIR instrument can increase the number of samples analysed. Virginie Blanvillain Rivera Global Services Manager AB Vista Gwyneth Jones Technical Services Coordinator AB Vista EMEA
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