Application of sensors in the packaging industry

Application of sensors in the packaging industry

Drop height sensors

Drop height sensors. Drop impact is the most severe environmental load during the circulation of packaging boxes (products and their internal and external packaging), and is the main danger affecting the safety of packaged goods. In the process of falling, the maximum impact acceleration (impact force) of the product is closely related to the height of the fall, the fall orientation, the quality of the packaging, buffer materials and buffer structure, etc. The sensitivity is proportional to the coverage area of the pole plate, the larger the coverage area, the higher the sensitivity; sensitivity is inversely proportional to the square of the pole distance, the smaller the pole distance, the higher the sensitivity. In order to improve nonlinearity, increase sensitivity and reduce the impact of external factors (such as supply voltage, ambient temperature, etc.), it was decided to use a differential capacitance sensor.

The sensor is small, light weight, simple structure, easy processing, good dynamic response performance, high sensitivity, small electrical noise (non-contact measurement), good temperature stability, a wide range of applicable temperature, is the ideal drop height sensor for field testing of packaging box circulation process.

Nano micro sensor in the field of packaging applications

1. With the progress of nanotechnology, lower cost, more powerful micro-sensors will be widely used in all aspects of social life. For example, micro-sensors installed in packaging boxes can be used to track and monitor the transportation of valuable items through the global positioning system; such micro-sensors can also be used to monitor whether the food is spoiled.

2. Equipped with micro-sensors in the packaging box or container can identify and indicate the packaging space temperature, humidity, pressure, as well as the degree of sealing, time and some other important parameters, for long-term storage and transportation of packaging products is particularly important.

Freshness sensors in the field of freshness packaging applications

1. Biological sensors can be widely used in food industry production, such as the detection of food raw materials, semi-finished products and product quality, online monitoring in fermentation production, etc. Using amino acid oxidase sensors can determine a variety of amino acids (including glutamic acid, L an aspartic acid, L an arginine and a dozen other amino acids). There are many kinds of food additives, such as sweeteners, acidulants, antioxidants, etc. There have been many reports on the use of biosensors for the analysis of food additives.

Freshness is one of the important indicators for evaluating food quality, which is usually tested by human perception, but the perception test is highly subjective and varies greatly among individuals, so people have been looking for objective physicochemical indicators instead. volpe et al. had used xanthin oxidase as a biosensitive material, combined with a hydrogen peroxide electrode, to determine the concentration of inosine monophosphate (IMP), inosine (HXR) and hypoxanthine produced during fish degradation ( Hx) concentrations, thus evaluating the freshness of the fish.

Here, the freshness sensing system consists of a mixed membrane of xanthin oxidase and nucleoside phosphorus oxidase and an oxidation electrode, and this assay is capable of reaching 20%. K values of flounder, snapper, mackerel, wolf bass, etc. have been measured using this sensor. In addition, if the amount of IMP, HXR, and I-IX is radiated to the 3-axis (radar pattern), the freshness can be evaluated from a visual point of view according to the stripe shape Technology & Application.

2. Nowadays, the amount of histaminase is used in Europe and the United States to evaluate freshness. Histaminase is a toxin that can cause food poisoning, and it may be produced when fish is left for a long time. In the future, the use of both K value measurement and histaminase measurement in the measurement will ensure food safety more reliably.

3. Freshness can also be evaluated using olfactory sensors (gas sensors). The smell of trimethylamine (TMA) in the ammonia series is the same as the smell of fish when it is not fresh (putrid smell). So we can use TAM oxide semiconductor as a measurement sensor experimentally. For example, when using ruthenium-titanium oxide measurement, its resistance will decrease with the degree of deterioration of the fish. Therefore, the decrease in resistance can also be used to evaluate the degree of deterioration of freshness, which can be used for fresh packaging of aquatic products.

4. There are also reports on the evaluation of taste and quality of instruments using multi-film potentiometer type taste sensors, making our future food packaging safer.