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TOMRA gets Innovation Award

TOMRA Sorting Solutions has been presented with the 2015 Innovation Award at the World Nut and Dried Fruit Congress in Antalya, Turkey. “We are delighted to have won this prestigious Innovation Award, which recognises the latest innovative technology in the world of nuts and dried fruits,” said Bjorn Thumas, director market development. “An award voted […]

TOMRA Sorting Solutions has been presented with the 2015 Innovation Award at the World Nut and Dried Fruit Congress in Antalya, Turkey.

“We are delighted to have won this prestigious Innovation Award, which recognises the latest innovative technology in the world of nuts and dried fruits,” said Bjorn Thumas, director market development. “An award voted by the industry we work for and with is a confirmation we are on the right path. We believe that TOMRA’s Nimbus BSI is a breakthrough for nuts and raisin processors.”

With a combination of various sorting technologies, the Nimbus free fall sorting machine with Biometric Signature Identification (BSI) is said to meet the continuously high requirements of the food industry and individual processors for safe and excellent food quality by removing unwanted material.

BSI technology is designed to detect the biometric characteristics of nuts, dried fruits and potatoes and is described as the next generation of spectral imaging, introduced to identify the material’s unique fingerprint. This creates a new range of never before seen sorting opportunities, according to TOMRA.

Almond processor, Stewart & Jasper Orchards, based in California, has already introduced the Nimbus BSI to its processing lines.

“By implementing TOMRA’s Nimbus BSI, our company has benefited enormously,” said Jim Jasper, owner and president. “Our throughput has increased immensely and we have seen our labor expenses drop. On top of that, our product quality has improved. We have thoroughly researched the sorting industry and it goes without saying that TOMRA’s Nimbus BSI is unmatched.”

All information detected in a specific spectrum of light is analysed by TOMRA’s in-house designed sensor module, compared and classified, all at very high speed. The system identifies the sole biometric signature of either good product or defects and sorts based on these clear distinguishable patterns. The flying beam principle (patent pending) implements only two halogen light sources per sensor module, in combination with a rotating polygon. A concentrated and focused light beam allows maximum light efficiency. This results in a significant energy minimization and no increased heating effect, allowing the Nimbus BSI to be the only sorter in the world that can combine both spectral imaging and lasers on one sole machine.

Furthermore, the Nimbus scan path includes a dust protection shield, ensuring stable and reliable sorting results as dust cannot reach the optical inspection window. The state-of-the-art BSI module detects even smaller defects compared to conventional spectral technology, enhancing sorting quality but retaining nearly all good material. At the same time, reducing the number of passes needed and level of breakage or bruising. The platform therefore offers users lower labor time and higher throughput, yield and efficiency in the rest of the processing line.

The Nimbus BSI can also be used effectively for reverse or recycle sorts where the volume of ‘bad’ is higher than the ‘good’, targeting good product rather than faulty material.