Superior design

Quality, Reliability, Excellent Support for an Amazing Price. It all comes together in the best package from Perten Instruments.

 

Solid Foundation It's all about quality. The AM 5200-A is made of heavy metal sheeting and Delrin. The build quality extends instrument life and reduces damage potential during relocation and shipping. It weighs 45 lbs.for a reason.
Measurement Cell & PC Board The single piece cast cell ensures accurate measurements of volume/density through precise control of cell dimensions. The RF electronics are built directly into the cell center divide eliminating cabling and removes impedance matching issues over time due to connector degradation.
Superior Temperature Sensing A continuous strip of copper (6.8in2) makes contact with hundreds of kernels for a precise sample temperature measurement over a wide temperature range. The large area/low mass means quick response times when there is a large disparity between room temperature and grain temperature, down to -40F. It means better accuracy and shorter analysis times.
Motor A single, high quality motor is used in the AM 5200-A. The simplicity of design leads to a longer instrument life and less down-time.
Auto-Analysis Mode Our greater than 7 year experience has resulted in an optimized analysis procedure in this 2nd generation instrument. Select the product once, and the instrument automatically begins analysis each time a sample is poured into the hopper. Not only does it speed up the analysis, it saves wear on the touchscreen.
Lower Cell Door The door employs a self-cleaning firm "snap action" close and is gravity driven. The "snap action" is designed to shake loose any build-up of material on the lower door. You can be confident the cell volume will not change due to dust build-up resulting in erroneous weight and volume measurements.
Sample Strike-off The sample strike-off is critical to controlling flow of product through the instrument. Our design minimizes debris build-up in the instrument. Grain is not sprayed throughout the interior. The AM 5200-A uses 3 brushes to direct grain to the collection drawer.
Connectivity The AM 5200-A has configurable data output using USB or RS-232 connections. Our Plug and play functionality mimics GAC© systems output for immediate replacement into existing scale software, LIMS, etc. An optional printer is available.

Technology

The Aquamatic 5200 is easy to use, but don't let its apparent simplicity deceive you. It is the most advanced grain moisture meter available, and utilizes advanced technology to provide rapid and accurate results.

How does a moisture meter work?

Just about all bench top moisture meters use what is often referred to as the capacitive method or RF dielectric method. With this method a radio signal at a specified frequency is sent through the sample. As water interacts with radio waves (that’s how your microwave oven works) it is possible to determine the moisture content by measuring how much the radio signal is changed by the sample.

The effect that the sample has on the radio signal is termed the dielectric constant, and it increases proportionally to the moisture content. There are a number of other factors that have an effect on the dielectric constant, perhaps most notably sample density and temperature. These two factors are measured and corrected for in advanced moisture meters.

150 MHz technology improves accuracy

Up until a few years ago moisture meters have used a radio signal with a frequency between 1-15 MHz. This is an area which is easy to work with as moisture has a strong signal there and electronic components have been available off the shelf for a long time. The problem is that there is a lot of noise, so the signal to noise ratio for moisture is poor, decreasing the accuracy of the moisture measurement and creating the need for frequent calibration updates, and 
for specific calibrations for the different classes within a grain.

For example, older moisture meters often have to use several calibrations for wheat and barley, one per class. Another problem of older technology was the “rebound effect”, where the instrument would read too low when analyzing grain straight from the field. The reason was the lower radio frequencies would not penetrate the kernels, so the instrument would only see the surface moisture content.

In the USDA study quite some effort was spent on finding the optimal frequency. Measurements were done from 1 MHZ to over 200 MHz, and the results very clearly showed that the accuracy was much better at 150 MHz than the old 1-15 MHz range. At 150 MHz the noise is much lower and the signal is much more specific to moisture. The overall effect is that the shortcomings of the previous technologies are eliminated in a 150 MHz system. The sensitivity to kernel moisture distribution, grain variety, crop year and geographic location is much lower, and the performance will thus be significantly better.

UMA - one calibration for all products

Another important USDA development was the new UMA (Unified Moisture Algorithm) calibration technique. It further improves the accuracy and makes it possible to use one and the same calibration for all grains and oilseeds. There are three main components in the UMA – a new type of sample density correction, the use of a 4th order polynomial equation, and a new way to adjust for sample temperature effects.

A density correction is done in most advanced grain moisture meters. As written above, density has 
an effect on the dielectric constant and in order to achieve good accuracy it is necessary to determine the density and adjust for it when calculating the moisture content. What is new in the UMA is the equation by which the density correction is calculated. The new density correction equation creates an almost perfect correlation between the dielectric constant of a sample and its moisture content. It is also an important factor behind the ability of the UMA to use one calibration for all grain types.

The 4th order polynomial equation, which is the actual calibration, is a more advanced mathematical technique than what is used in previous moisture meters. This is possible thanks to the higher processing power of the Aquamatic, which uses modern computing technology.

The effects of sample temperature has always been a difficulty for moisture meters, but with the introduction of UMA this is no longer a problem. The UMA uses a new algorithm for moisture correction which adapts the adjustment to the moisture content of the sample. The right adjustment for a cold wet sample is not the same as for a cold dry sample, and the UMA handles that with very good results.

Operation and handling

A moisture meter has to be easy to use, and what could be simpler than 
just selecting the product to be analyzed and then pouring the sample into the instrument?

At Perten Instruments we have always taken pride in developing analyzers that are so easy to use that they can be used confidently by non-technical personnel. The Aquamatic 5200 follows the tradition and can be used by anyone after just a 1-minute introduction. Three simple steps is all it takes.

Select grain type on the touch screen	Pour the sample. The analysis will start automatically.	After ten seconds the results are displayed on the screen, and you can emtpy the sample box.

Easy To Use

The Aquamatic 5200, like all Perten models, was designed to be easy to use. As seasonal workers are often used at grain receivals, it's important that the equipment they use is as simple to operate as possible. This decreases introduction and training time, and minimizes handling errors.

Printing results

For an immediate receipt of results, the Aquamatic 5200 can be equipped with an optional ticket printer.

Data Transfer

The Aquamatic 5200 can be connected to a computer for easy transfer of analytical results into business systems or office applications. You can either collect analytical results in real-time into a LIMS, or download results from the internal memory to a USB memory stick at your convenience.

Applications and Performance

The Aquamatic 5200 determines moisture, specific weight and temperature in all kinds of grains and oilseeds. It sets new standards among grain moisture meters when it comes to accuracy, stability and transferability.

Accuracy

The Aquamatic is probably the most accurate grain moisture meter available. In a recent evaluation performed on samples from GIPSA (US Grain Inspection) the performance of the Aquamatic was excellent. 230 samples of nine grain and oilseed types were analyzed, and the average standard error versus the oven reference method was only 0.20. The graph is presented below.

No temperature effect

Thanks to the UMA calibration technique there is no effect of the sample temperature in the Aquamatic 5200. The graph below shows the results from a test of the Aquamatic where the same three samples were analyzed at cold, medium and warm temperatures. Each square represents one analysis, and the three samples were analyzed from 50F (10C) to 100F (35C). As is evident from the graph, the Aquamatic gives the correct results regardless of the temperature a sample is analyzed at.

Transferability

All Aquamatic units are alike. If you would place two units side by side and analyze the same sample in both of them, you would get the same result. This comes partly from using the 150 MHz technology, and partly from the advanced standardization procedures we have developed. Below is a graph from a group of 7 instruments after being standardized. The same set of 6 samples (2 wheat samples, 1 corn, 1 soybean, 1 sunflower seed and 1 rice sample) ranging from 8.5-13.5% moisture was analyzed in all 7 Aquamatics. In the graph it is hard to make out the dots for the individual units as they are on top of each other, which is good because it means that all units gave almost exactly the same result when analyzing the same sample.

Official Approvals

United States and Canada

USDA GIPSA/FGIS Certified as UGMA Compatible

The USDA developed the Unified Grain Moisture Algorithm (UGMA) to improve accuracy and repeatability of moisture in whole grains and oilseeds. To properly implement the UGMA, the instrument must also use a higher radio frequency (149MHz), test for density, and accurately measure temperature. The new meters are twice as accurate on many grains and much more capable of taking into account grain temperature variation. The Aquamatic 5200-A is approved for use for official grain trade in the United States. 

NTEP Approved Grain Moisture Meter

NTEP approval means that the Aquamatic 5200 and was put through a rigorous set of tests and found to meet or exceed the National Institute of Standards and Technologies (NIST) Handbook 44 requirements for testing devices. The purpose of NTEP is to provide a framework to systematically test devices that will be used “for selling, purchasing, exchanging, custody transfer, or establishing the cost for services or hire on the basis of a measurement” according the NTEP website.

Europe

The Aquamatic 5200 Grain Moisture meter is officially approved in Germany and France. In Germany, the AM 5200 Grain Moisture meter was approved by PTB for official Moisture payment analysis in December 2014. In France this approval was finalized by LNE in May 2015.

The official agencies in Germany (PTB) and France (LNE), have through thorough testing concluded that the AM 5200 meets the requirements on accuracy, stability and integrity, resulting in the approval for determination of moisture in various grain types in commercial grain trading.