Automated sugar content based cane payment system
For years, sugar cane payment to farmers has been based solely on weight. However, the sugar content of the cane is the most ideal form of determining how much the cane you sell or buy is worth for production of sugar.
The sugar-regulating body in Kenya required a solution that would meet this requirement as well as making it sustainable for years to come. We developed an automated cane sampling and testing solution that would be transparent so as to be trusted by all key stakeholders. We put together a solution using world-leading cane testing equipment and lab management system developers.
System components;
- Cane sampling from delivery trucks using a Core Sampling equipment
- Shredding the cane for testing using a cane disintegrator
- Automatic presentation of cane for testing using a cane presentation systems (CPS)
- Testing and analyzing the cane for Pol, Brix, Fibre, Moisture etc. using a Fourier Transfer Near Infra-Red (FT-NIR)Spectrometer
- Preparing a lab testing sample using a wet disintegrator
- Fast filtration of the prepared sample using a pressure filtration system
- Testing the POL using a polarimeter
- Testing for Brix using a refractomer
- Determining the moisture content of the cane using a digital weight measuring system and a drying oven
- Keeping the test sample at a constant temperature using a temperature-controlled digital water bath
- Analysing the test results using a lab information system
- Information handling using IT equipment