B.FLT.1018 - Assessment of GRAIN EDGE® technology to meet Australian government quarantine requirements for imported grain

Summary

Australia’s tight quarantine laws currently prevent the importation of grain into Australia unless clear guarantees are made about insect and pathogen free status, as well as the seed being devitalised. The cost and complexity of importation devitalisation and the sterilisation processes often represent an unsurmountable hurdle to large grain users, such as feedlots, when grain shortages and spikes in prices occur, putting at risk the viability of their businesses.

MLA in 2019, conducted a Grain Devitilisation Review (MLA Project B.FLT.1011) that identified infrared treatment of grain as a possible treatment mechansism. IRtech’s Grain Edge technology has the potential to provide a rapid, single-pass devitalisation and sterilisation treatment to meet government quarantine requirements for grain entering Australia.

This research project demonstrated that IRtech GRAIN EDGE® technology was effective at devitalising barley, maize and sorghum samples sourced for the pilot trial. For wheat, at low incoming moisture levels (≤10%) some germination was evident, whilst complete devitalisation occurred at higher moisture levels. For all grains, transfer rate through the IRtech GRAIN EDGE® technology was between 270 and 750kg/hr during the project. Further commercial scaling and research with low moisture grains is therefore required to demonstrate efficacy of the technology in the future.

Objectives

(1) Obtain an independent evaluation of the effect of IRtech’s GRAIN EDGE® selective infrared light source penetration technology on grain devitalisation (preventing the germination of the grain and weed seeds) and sterilisation (insect pests, plant and animal pathogens) in maize, wheat, barley and sorghum grain.
(2) Generate modelled costs of treatment ($/tonne) and processing rate (tonnes/hour) for IRtech port facilities of different sizes.
(3) If the outcome of the first two objectives is acceptable to DAWE and the industry, provide Australian grain importers who want to use selective infrared light source penetrationas deployed using GRAIN EDGE® technology for imported grain treatment with the necessary resources to support a DAWE importation application.

Key findings

• The present study has shown that GRAIN EDGE® technology can be successfully applied to devitalise corn, barley and sorghum at low rates of dry grain transfer (270 to 750 kg/hr) while fulfilling Australia Biosecurity’s minimum requirements regarding prescribed temperature and treatment duration (90C for 60 seconds). For wheat, at low incoming moisture levels (≤10%) some germination was evident; however, complete devitalisation occurred in wheat samples with moisture contents of 11.0 and 12.6%.
• Initial tests on the relevant grain quality measures using NIRS for all relevant animal nutrition purposes suggest that the IRtech treatment did not adversely affect the quality of the grain. An average of 2% moisture loss caused by the treatment was seen across all grain types. Raising moisture by 2% before treatment resulted in grain having the desired moisture content after the treatment, which might be of interest to potential users.
• When minimally affected by weather conditions and in longer consistent runs, the energy use per tonne of grain averaged 40kW after a short warm-up period (equivalent to about 46kW per tonne of dry matter). In the future there is potential for further energy usage improvements via grain preheating using waste heat produced during processing and unit insulation.

Benefits to industry

This project has demonstrated that infrared light source penetration can successfully devitalise grains with moisture greater than 10%.

MLA action

MLA seeks commercial grain importation partners to co-invest prior to future research and commercial scaling.

Future research

Further commercial scaling and research with low moisture grains is required to demonstrate efficacy of the technology prior to wide-scale adoption.