Eqraft, an agricultural machinery manufacturer based in the Netherlands and Richland, Wash., has developed a solution to sort and grade onions efficiently and cost effectively, said Mike Kooijman, the company’s technical sales executive who covers the U.S.
Since 1984, when the Dutch tech company was still called ERC, Eqraft has been designing, building and maintaining innovative solutions for smart agri factories worldwide, Kooijman said.
The company made its name with the onion topper, but over the years shifted from mechanical solutions to overarching high-tech systems, he said.
“We serve a broad network of customers who are active in the onion and potato industry worldwide, and we offer all equipment for cleaning, topping, grading, packing and automated bin handling and storage,” he said.
Eqraft’s Eqrader optical onion grader uses a series of internal and external checks to sort onions at high speed by quality, size, weight, shape and color. The machine is unique in that it’s made specifically for onions, even for Vidalia onions that require careful handling.
“One of the aspects that stands out is the two-camera setup where the top of the onion is scanned with the first set of cameras, after which the onion is tipped 180 degrees, and the second set of cameras scans the bottom of the product,” he said. “This is much gentler than rolling the onion, for example.”
Internal and external scanners examine the entire onion from the top layer into the middle for deficiencies like soft layers or decay, after which the exact weight is taken by loadcells.
Once the onion has passed through all the stations, data is analyzed by artificial intelligence. Sorting grids are created to categorize the onions by criteria such as size, quality or weight, and they are then sent to a specific outlet.
The capacity of the machine is determined by the number of lanes; two lanes can handle 15 to 20 tons per hour.
“The Eqrader can save a lot of money,” Kooijman said.
“When onions are sorted manually, any substandard onions are thrown out,” he said. “It is not possible to properly assess the internal quality of the onion.”
But with the Eqrader, each onion is judged on its qualities and can be sent to a specific exit.
“Extra value is added by being able to grade specific qualities per exit,” he said. “A good internal onion without skin can, for example, be sold to a processing facility.”
The heavy-duty build ensures a long service life, low maintenance and little downtime, Kooijman added.
Eqraft has numerous projects in operation in the U.S. and is expanding rapidly, he said.
