Research and development for automated Sprectrophotometer for industrial process

• Grant number: 16/07761-5
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Innovative Research in Small Business - PIPE
• Start date: February 01, 2017
• End date: March 31, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Electrical Engineering - Electrical, Magnetic and Electronic Measurements, Instrumentation
• Principal Investigator: Ivano José Cunha
• Grantee: Ivano José Cunha
• Company: Ivano Jose Cunha
• City: Santa Bárbara D'Oeste

Abstract

When we run an industrial automation project in a laboratory for the production of bacteria, we are faced with the need for an instrument that could be applied directly in the process line, and periodically would measure accurately the amount of ammonia and dextrose in bio reactors. As there were several fermenting vessels installed in the same plant, we needed a prepared equipment to receive several samples of these vessels. This device should also receive commands remotely via a supervisory (SCADA) in order to allow automatic correction of ammonia and dextrose levels in each of bio reactors. We did not find a device in the domestic market with these characteristics. The instruments they approach our need are found in foreign markets, but are not fully appropriate because they are not prepared for the industrial environment, consumables prices are very high and the import costs make their use impractical. Our aim therefore is to build a spectrophotometer instrument type to be installed in the process line of an industry or laboratory and to allow monitoring of elements and substances essential to that process. In addition, this instrument is on a remote controller command that will receive the data for process correction without human intervention. The spectrometer automated process will have a broad spectral range performance [VIS - 350 to 800nm; NIR - 650 to 1100nm or UV - 190 to 650nm]. This gives versatility of application and universality of use. This equipment is able to perform the concentration analyzes of samples of a series of elements such as nitrates, nitrites, phosphates, chlorides, sulfates and nutrients. The spectrophotometer is an electronic analysis tool able to measure and compare the amount of light absorbed, reflected or transmitted by a particular sample (Webster, 1999). The results are obtained immediately after the reading of samples, which gives the apparatus widespread use in industrial processes, besides the highly accurate reading reaches up to 99.99%. Nowadays, the improvement of spectrophotometers continues and its applications ranging from science and medicine to the investigation of crime scenes, as the great practicality in chemical analysis (Lothian, 1969; Halliday et al., 2009). Although many have been introduced over the years, there is still a great need for automated equipment capable of performing chemical and biochemical reactions for application in industrial processes to measure and control process automatically, "in line", avoiding errors of human manipulation. The spectrophotometer is widely used for quantitative analysis in various fields such as chemistry, physics, biology, biochemistry, engineering materials and chemicals, clinical applications, industrial applications, other entity. Any application that involves chemicals or materials can use this technique, and hence the spectrophotometer (Skoog et al, 1998;. Halliday et al., 2009). All these analyzes are usually performed by a technician who handles the samples and get the results. In this development, the technological challenges to be worked are basically the following: Accurate dosing of the reactants in the appropriateratio for each sample; proper homogeneity of the mixture at the time of the spectrometer measurement; the proper temperature of the sample to be measured; suitable electro-mechanical structure for blood sampling, mixing, sampling, reading and conversion of measured values. The equipment is classified as an instrument "In-Situ" because it will be installed within the process, near the reactors. To control the flow of samples and reagents will use a classical analysis system flow injection (Ruzickza J. and E. H. Hansen, 1975). (AU)