Refractometer

Your answer to this question depends largely on the nature of the refractomer's intended use. Will you be measuring the refractive index in a laboratory or on a manufacturing production line where you will remain in the same place taking repetitive measurements with your refractometer oe handheld refractometer? Or will you be measuring the refractive index on the go, in the field or in many different scenarios and locations?

An Abbe refractometer typically is a tabletop or benchtop device for stationary use. Analog or digital handheld refractometers usually are lightweight and portable, with some even capable of being stored in your pocket. These pocket-size refractometers especially are handy for taking on-the-spot measurements in breweries, vineyards and even automotive body shops.

Potato starch is not only used in cooking and in the food industry as a binding agent. The carbohydrate starch from potatoes and other crops can also be used to produce biodegradable packaging materials, disposable tableware and as a base for tablets, ointments or detergents. In the paper and cardboard production, starch and starch products are used, among other things, for gluing, to improve tear strength and for surface finishing. Processed starch can also be used as a binder in paints and adhesives, for example in wallpaper paste, on envelopes and stamps.

Special potato varieties are bred for starch production, for which the taste or cooking properties are not important, but only the high starch content. However, the starch content of the harvested potatoes also varies within one variety depending on the location and the respective weather conditions. The usual methods for determining the starch content in table and industrial potatoes use the relationship between starch content and density of the potatoes. To determine the density, the potatoes are either weighed above and below water with so-called potato scales or immersed in salt baths of different concentrations. Since these methods are relatively costly, the ways are being sought to integrate the reliable methods for determining the starch content into the large sorting plants.

Refractometers with starch scaling can be used for rapid determination of already dissolved starch. A drop of liquid is sufficient to determine the proportion of dissolved starch via light refraction. The measuring range of one of these purely optical refractometers can, for example, be designed for zero to thirty percent of starch and the scale for a reading accuracy of 0.2 percent. Special refractometers have also been developed for process monitoring and control in industry, which can continuously measure and display the proportion of starch and transmit the measured values to other devices.

Application of the modern measuring devices helps to bring many manufacturing and controlling processes on an absolutely new qualitative level. Refractometer is one of such devices, and finds its application in many areas, like chemical, food industry. The use of the knowledge about behavior of light in different media allows carrying out very precise structural analysis of many substances, defining their parameters and components in the complex compounds. The value of application of the refractometer cannot be underestimated or underrated. Starting from the laboratory use to the industrial application, the device is indispensable, since it helps to control many substances and many technological processes on an absolutely new and much better level.

Depending on the needs and requirements of the user, different model of the refractometer may be selected. For simpler tasks portable devices are the best choice, but if it goes about complicated technological processes and the continuous monitoring, then inline refractometer is taken.

The inline refractometer is a device that is capable of measuring in real time and that is why is most suitable when continuous or regular control of the complicated processes is required. Moreover, they help to carry out a very thorough and accurate control of the quality of the liquid and its composition and concentration, for example, beverage, chemical substance or other liquid medium. Among the advantages of the inline refractometers are high accuracy, and resistance to the influence of the external factors, such as contaminants or ambient conditions. The measuring range of the industrial (another name for inline devices) refractometers is much wider than of the portable ones and that is why the most demanding and challenging measuring tasks should be fulfilled with the help of these models.

Factories and manufacturing enterprises usually deal with the batch production and big lots. Control of the quality and correct proportion is extremely important, for example, in food industry when it goes about beverages, drinks, juices, various sauces, spirits, brines, pickled products, ketchups, dairy products and many other things. Before raw stuff becomes a final product, it should go through many stages, such as mixing, brewing, dissolving or diluting, warming-up or cooling-down. Besides, only the strict observance of proportion (sugar, salt, acid, vinegar and other substances) ensures that the final product will possess the required qualities or taste. All these can be not only checked, but continuously controlled with the help of the inline refractometer. Maintenance of the high quality is the priority for many famous producers and is important for the young companies that wish to win a position on the market and gain popularity among the customers.

With the help of the refractometer mistakes that may happen during the production can be avoided, timely detected and eliminated. Installation of the refractometers for real-time measurements allows very precise detection of the point where the fault happens, and thus, it helps to prevent the spoilage of a big amount of product, since if the fault is detected only at the end of the process, it is irreversible.

When it goes about food production, it is extremely important that the described nutrition information coincides with the reality, since it goes about health of people and for people who especially check for certain parameters because of their health condition, it is essential, for example, the sugar content should not be higher than described.

Not only in the food industry control of the production line is mandatory. It also applies to chemical and pharmaceutical industries. In the daily life a wide range of liquid agents is used for numerous applications: cleaning agents, lubricants, solvents, alkaline solutions, antifreeze or various additives. Even though they are not for consumption, the quality of these substances is not less important, since their application is often very effective, but also dangerous, and the observance of the correct composition is a pledge that under condition of correct application and observance of all the safety norms, no negative effects occur and, for example, the surfaces on which they are applied, are not damaged.

Nowadays the attention to the environment is permanently increasing, and the requirements to the production processes and, in particular, to the waste disposal are getting stricter and stricter. Sewage waters that come as disposal after the production should not contain harmful and dangerous substances in excessive amounts and their quality is also strictly controlled and regulated by the norms. Refractometer installed in the sewage facilities helps to keep this part of the production under control successfully.

Industrial or inline refractometer is not cheap, but taking into account the advantages and benefits which the enterprise gets after its installation in the production line, it may be said that it is a purchase that always pays off quickly by helping to maintain the quality, save the production of the spoiled and unsuitable for application goods, improve the automatization of the process and avoid downtime of the equipment, since the measurements take place in real time.