Reliable accuracy for credible fairness
The demand for potato products is growing rapidly resulting in even greater need for fast and accurate processing.
Previously, the task of weighing potatoes fresh from the ground required a great deal of manual labour in the weighing process. Manual labour means higher risks of operator error and inaccuracy, that in turn can be very expensive for the operating company.
AKD – Andels-Kartoffelmelsfabrikken Danmark is a Danish company working with potato-based products such as starch, contacted Jesma for a bulk weighing solution for raw potatoes for their processing plant in Brande, later adding a similar solution to another plant.
Farmers are paid by the quality and quantity of their delivered product. As such, any dirt, mud, clay, and stones that arrive with the potatoes will have an impact on the price of the product, reducing it. Further, the starch content of the potatoes also plays a major role when calculating the price. At Jesma, we set out to design a solution which could accurately and reliably measure all these variables. In the end, the client was provided with a system capable of carrying out these tasks, and more, while also being fully automatic.
Automated system for potato weighing
A sample of roughly 70-100 kg is taken from the farmer’s truck. The sampled potatoes are then washed and sorted – removing stones, bad potatoes, dirt, and the like, and then weighed. After the weighing process, the starch content is derived from another weighing process – where the potatoes are weighed above water and then immersed in water and the starch content determined by the weight of the potatoes.
In conclusion, a system for securing fast processing and easy and accurate settlement for both farmers and factory.
System includes: an intake scale, scale for stones, scale for starch, net. scale, sorting belt and HMI.
