Further Processing

Cone line screening: Improved yield, no bones about it!

//05 Apr 2011
Researchers at the Georgia Tech Research Institute perform in-plant tests of a cone line screening system. This automatically inspects for bones on the frame on the deboning line, providing immediate feedback to deboners.

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By Georgia Tech Research Institute , Atlanta, GA, USA

Deboned breast fillets are one of the most popular further processed poultry products. However, sometimes bones missed during screening end up in the final product. This may be due to the fact that current screening methods are carried out post production by visual/manual or x-ray screening. The manual technique is error prone, and while the performance of x-ray systems has improved significantly, they are still expensive.

Additionally, in most installations, it is difficult to tie the occurrence of a bone back to the root cause of the problem. Researchers at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) believe they may be on the verge of having a solution. Their cone line screening system automatically inspects for bones on the frame on the deboning line, providing immediate feedback to deboners on their individual performance and the overall efficiency of the line.

Estimating yield
The screening system is also being adapted to estimate yield. Currently, the GTRI team is working on reliably measuring the yield of deboners in training, so that the poultry plant is able to monitor the performance of each individual. The team is also working on parametrising deboner fatigue based on the yield, so that plants can implement objective rotation schemes.
“We are proposing a new approach to product screening that allows for automatic screening on the cone line for bone and other process parameters to enhance line efficiency in a holistic way. This is accomplished by inspecting the frame on the cone immediately after the meat has been removed,” says Dr. Wayne Daley, associate division chief of GTRI’s Food Processing Technology Division. “This not only allows for quicker detection of bones remaining on the frame, but also provides an opportunity for real-time monitoring of production yield and other significant process parameters that influence overall productivity.”

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Source: World Poultry, Vol. 27, No. 3, 2011
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