Broken Analysis Using GRAMS – Rice Analyzer System

A major challenge in the rice milling industry is increasing the yield of full-length rice and minimizing the percentage of broken grains. Broken rice sells at almost half the price of full-length rice and sometimes even less. The broken percentage can be impacted at many stages of the milling process and thus should be monitored and analyzed at two:

• Polisher/whitener output
• Length grader output

The rice polishing process is delicate and may result in broken pieces. The amount of polishing needed is determined by the whiteness index value of a rice sample. The darker the rice is before milling, the more polishing it requires to achieve a higher rating on the whiteness index. More processing results in potentially more breakage.

A length grader separates rice of a predetermined length from the rest of the broken rice particles. There can be multiple stages of length grader depending on the measurement of the average grain. The length grader settings can range from as low as two for non-basmati rice (short grain) and up to five in case of basmati rice milling (long grain). In both of these stages it is very important to analyze the amount of rice particles going into the grader at shorter lengths or as broken particles.

The ratio of long grain rice to short grain, or broken rice in a bag affects the quality rating of the product, which can directly impact profits. For example, in some lots the ratio of 95% long grain to 5% short grain is considered a high quality blend. Thus, a miller needs to have the best tools available to be able to analyze all rice output. Analysis of broken rice and average length at every stage of the process is key to increasing profits in the rice milling industry.

The ‘Particle Distribution’ feature of “GRAMS – Rice Analyzer System” analyses a rice sample consisting of hundreds of particles and calculates the parameters below in one minute.

• Percentage of rice particles ‘by weight’ in each length cut (broken, second broken, dubar, tibar, full grain etc.)
• ‘Average length’ of each length cut

This feature of “GRAMS – Rice Analyzer System” is being used by well-known rice milling companies such as KRBL Ltd. to configure their length grader and extract maximum profits during the milling process.

Using the Rice Analyzer System, a miller can very easily prepare different lots of varying particle lengths. This feature allows a miller to keep a check on the standard deviation of average length to ensure no spillage is happening due to faulty graders or a wrong configuration. GRAMS – Rice Analyzer System helps ensure consistent high-quality product resulting in high profits for customers.