The newly developed tri²dent material sensor is the first compact material sensor at all! While the characterization of (organic) materials was previously only possible in the laboratory or using expensive process spectrometers, the tri²dent sensors now also allow this in industrial process monitoring through the use of a simplified spectrometric principle.

A material sensor can take on the following functions:

• Identification and differentiation of different (organic) materials, such as the differentiation of plastics or plastic from paper etc.
• Monitoring of material application during coating processes
• Measuring the concentration of ingredients in transparent or semi-transparent materials

But how does a tri²dent material sensor work? We have them for you Functionality briefly summarized:

1. Most organic materials have characteristic absorption profiles in the near-infrared range, meaning that at certain wavelengths they absorb more light (=absorption band) than at others.
2. In order to use this, the absorption bands of the materials to be identified must be determined so that the sensor can be equipped with suitable light sources.
3. The sensor emits up to three infrared rays of different wavelengths, which are absorbed by the illuminated materials according to their absorption profiles.
4. The reflected light from the three channels, reduced by the absorption, is evaluated by the sensor. By comparing it with the taught material values, the sensor can now draw conclusions about the respective material.
5. The sensor passes its result on to the process control system. Depending on the task, it outputs either a binary output signal - material XY is present or not present - or an analog output signal - corresponds to a material ID or a concentration in percent.