New project will ensure better textile sorting and less food waste

Experts in laser & detector hardware and chemometrics as well as researchers in textile recycling and the food industry are collaborating in a new research project to produce a complex hyperspectral imaging system. Innovation Fund Denmark has invested DKK 14 million. DKK in the project.

Complex textile sorting and better utilization of by-products from meat production are the goals of a new project, HyperSort, in which Innovation Fund Denmark has just invested nearly DKK 14 million.

The project builds on a long history of expertise in the development of supercontinuum lasers at NKT Photonics, academic expertise at the University of Copenhagen and the University of the Basque Country, and researchers in contact with the industry within meat processing and textile recycling. The consortium also includes a fast-growing SME, NLIR, which develops detectors for infrared wavelengths based on a patented upconversion technique.

Hyperspectral imaging systems are a current topic as they are being implemented in more and more places in industry. In the HyperSort project, NKT Photonics' supercontinuum light sources must solve challenges with resolution, penetration depth and material analysis. The light sources can also analyze materials from a distance. This means that they do not heat up the material, which gives them an advantage in e.g. food analysis.

- It is not easy to make a hyperspectral imaging system suitable for use in a factory. Such a system requires interdisciplinary expertise in light generation, detection and chemical analysis. When the system works, all the technology must be hidden under an intuitive and user-friendly software interface, so that the system is easy to use in industry, says Patrick Montague, Head of Future Technologies at NKT Photonics and continues:

- The HyperSort project has two goals: To improve textile recycling, especially by differentiating complex textiles, as well as to optimize meat processing, where the goal is to predict the quality of the finished products using advanced measurements on raw materials and during the manufacturing process, so that waste production is avoided.

The project collaboration and the funding provided give five prominent Danish organisations, private as well as academic, a unique opportunity to make a significant difference on the global market.

The project partners, University of Basque County and Boer Group recycling, are world leaders in hyperspectral imaging and chemometry and Europe's manual and automated textile recycling respectively. They have valuable insight into the challenges and potential benefits of the HyperSort system.

DTI and Boer Group will test the supercontinuum light source developed by NKT Photonics, DTU, and NLIR in the applied research in father products based on meat and plant proteins and textile recycling, respectively.

Contact:

Patrick Montague, Head of Future Technologies, NKT Photonics A/S
Tel. +45 71506430, email: pabo@nktphotonics.com

Line Skouboe, communications advisor, Innovation Fund Denmark
Tel. 61 90 50 39, Mail: line.skouboe@innofond.dk

Facts:

• The Innovation Fund's investment: DKK 14.0 million.
• Total budget: DKK 18.8 million.
• Duration: 3 years
• Official Title: HyperSort – Hyperspectral Optical Engine

Partners

NKT Photonics is a global leader in photonics and fiber laser solutions. They are known for their expertise in light source development and contribute advanced technology and knowledge to the project as well as project management and coordination thereof. NKT Photonics will commercialize and scale the HyperSort solution after the project.

José Manuel Amigo is a researcher in chemometrics at the IKERBASQUE Foundation and the University of the Basque County. His specialty is hyperspectral imaging and his research has been cited over 6400 times, giving him an h-index of 46.

The Technological Institute is a leading research and technology institute in Denmark. We currently employ 1,050 specialists and we help more than 10,500 customers a year - representing 68 different countries. The Technological Institute is an interdisciplinary institute that looks at challenges in an innovative way, divided into 5 divisions: Food & Production, Materials, Environmental Technology, Energy & Climate, and Construction & Construction.

DTU is the world leader in optical fiber technology and supercontinuum (SC) fiber lasers and SC-based imaging systems for the UV to mid-IR spectral range 30nm-15μm. It has state-of-the-art facilities such as 2 fiber drawing towers and glass manufacturing, fiber characterization and high power laser clean room laboratories.

NLIR develops and produces unique mid-infrared spectrometers that are both fast and sensitive. NLIR contributes to the project with knowledge for the development of a mid-infrared spectral line scanner, which is one of the key components of the HyperSort solution. NLIR will commercialize the line scanner afterwards.

Boer Group is a leader in the recycling and recycling of textiles in Europe. The Boer Group consists of three collection companies, seven sorting companies and an innovative platform. Their 750 employees sort approx. 112 tons of used textiles per year. Boer Group's goal is that textile waste is sorted and recycled again and again in the future.