3 Particle Size Analysis Instruments Used in the Food Industry

The food industry is arguably one of the most regulated industries in the world, as the mishandling of food products can have detrimental side effects. One key element of these standards and regulations is food quality control.

Food quality control technicians must implement a reliable means of particle size analysis to ensure a quality control level suitable for the mass production of food goods. 

What equipment options are currently available to ensure precision and care in handling food safety and quality control?

With over 140 years of particle size analysis experience, W.S. Tyler is here to ensure you implement the best solution for your particular needs.

In this article, we will discuss everything you need to know about particle size analysis in the food industry, explaining how the food industry fits into the particle size analysis industry, what instruments are used to carry out and providing insight into some of the equipment used to analyze the particle size of your material.

How Does the Food Industry Fit Into the World of Particle Size Analysis?

When talking about food safety and quality control, particle size analysis comes into play in several ways. The two main ways the size of particles in a food product is analyzed are final product sizing and initial product sizing.

So what’s the difference?

Well, initial product sizing refers to the analysis of powdered or raw ingredients at the beginning stages of production. These ingredients go into things such as curry spice blends or cake mixes.

On the other hand, final product sizing refers to the analysis of the particle making up the final production run to ensure its within a certain size range. This includes products like table salt, granola, and sugar.

How Does Particle Size Analysis Benefit the Food Industry?

Particle Size Analysis allows food manufacturers to meet the expectations of their customers by enhancing their food quality control protocols. To put this into perspective, let’s say you are a manufacturer that sells tea bags.

If a customer purchases your tea bags, they expect each cup of tea to taste the same if they steep each one for three minutes. Particle Size Analysis helps to guarantee this, by allowing you to make sure the leaves within a batch have been cut to a similar size.

The same goes for food that needs to be cooked. Particle Size Analysis helps to ensure that a food product will cook at the expected rate.

What Equipment Is Used to Aid Food Safety and Quality Control?

In the food industry, three particle analysis instruments can enhance most food quality control protocols: Sieve Shakers, Air Jet Sieves, and Dynamic Image Analysis Systems. Let’s examine how each instrument is implemented. 

1. Sieve Shakers

Sieve Shakers use an oscillating motion along with a hammer tapping motion, to promote particle movement through a test sieve stack. This simple yet effective system was discovered to produce some of the most repeatable results in the industry.

This is why Shakers, such as the RO-TAP® Sieve Shaker, have been a highly consistent particle size analysis instrument for several decades. In fact, one of the greatest benefits that it brings to the table is that it can easily be traced to several industry standards. 

This means that all the necessary quality control paperwork is readily available during an audit. 

That being said, this particular unit can be fairly loud. When not placed into a sound enclosure, it can sometimes prove to be a disruption.

Also, a RO-TAP Sieve Shaker has many moving parts that will wear over time. This means some maintenance is required from time to time, though most maintenance can be carried out easily.

NOTE: Because food production is such a highly regulated process, it is recommended that certified test sieves are used.

2. Air Jet Sieve

Air Jet Sieves, such as the NEXOPART Air Jet Sieve e200 LS, are a unique solution that provides food quality control technicians with a complete particle size analysis experience. These units are particularly useful when working with material that often becomes agglomerated, such as flour and confectioner’s sugar. 

The Alpine Air Jet Sieve e200 LS uses a vacuum-generated jet of air to slam agglomerated particles against its plexiglass lid, allowing them to separate and flow through the test sieve. This unique vacuum system makes air jet sieves the ideal solution for any operation working with lighter particles.

However, these light particles can cause a lot of build-up within the air jet sieve filters as well as the vacuum that generates the air jet. As a result, the food quality control technician must follow a regular cleaning schedule to ensure it continues to operate as it should. 

NOTE: The Alpine Air Jet Sieve e200 LS must undergo calibration annually

3. Dynamic Image Analysis

Dynamic Image Analysis Systems take the benefits listed above a step further by providing insight into the size as well as the shape of the particle being worked with. This is extremely beneficial if, let’s say, you know you want 80% of your particles to be triangular in shape, you can set up parameters to see this.