In-line near infrared spectroscopy for the prediction of moisture content in the tapioca starch drying process

Moisture content is an important parameter measured in tapioca starch production as this parameter has been shown to correlate strongly with the quality of the finished product. However, there is currently no in-line sensor which can be used to directly measure the moisture content of the product in real time. The objective of the present work was to study the use of an in-line measurement which can be introduced at the end of the drying process for tapioca starch moisture content evaluation. Either in-line NIR data or at-line NIR data was used to develop the necessary calibration models for evaluating the moisture content. Furthermore, calibration models were also developed by pooling the in-line and at-line data. Its performance was then verified using additional in-line data. The NIR model developed using 100% of the at-line data and 50% of the in-line data was validated using the unused 50% of the inline data. This model was shown to provide better performance in moisture content prediction with an SEP of 0.61% and a bias of 0.001%. In addition, the results showed that the at-line spectrum can also be used for the calibration model development to predict the moisture content of the samples scanned by an in-line spectrometer. However, the in-line spectrometer installation on a pneumatic conveying circular tube where tapioca starch and air mixed was found to be complicated due to significant vibration. This caused additional variation in the data with time. Therefore, it is concluded that the most suitable place for installing a spectrometer would be at a position involving a low pressure, or where the stream flow of a product is steadier in order to avoid the dynamic mixing of the product within the drying tube affecting the uncertainty of NIR scattering during the measurement. (C) 2019 Published by Elsevier B.V.