Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS
Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS

Dual Energy Kit

What are the opportunities of the Dual Energy Kit?

The Dual Energy Kit developed by Fraunhofer EZRT represents a combination of high-performance software and hardware components that allow integrating the Dual Energy method into existing X-ray systems with minimum effort.
Such X-ray systems equipped with two X-ray spectra are far superior to those with only one spectrum with respect to their detection capacity. 

The Dual Energy Kit offers the possibility of an easy and fast equipment resp. upgrade of existing X-ray systems.
Thanks to the supplied software and hardware components, it is not necessary to develop calibration and software by oneself.   

For the implementation, you require an existing X-ray system (consisting of X-ray source and conveyor system).
If your system setup does not yet include a Dual Energy detector, it is possible to rent one from Fraunhofer EZRT for test purposes.

Support during commissioning by Fraunhofer EZRT

The X-ray experts of Fraunhofer EZRT support you during all necessary steps in order to implement Dual Energy in your existing infrastructure.

We accompany you during the commissioning of the hardware components and evaluation of data with the aid of the supplied software solution.

For which fields of application is the Dual Energy Kit suitable?

Due to the significantly increased detection capacity, X-ray systems equipped with the Dual Energy technology are suitable for entirely new applications.

Thanks to the more exact determination of the mixture of substances within a test object, the Dual Energy method is above all suitable for the detection of certain undesired materials. Examples are the residue-free production of foodstuffs or the sorting of specific materials during the recycling process.

Potential fields of application that can profit from the implementation of the Dual Energy technology:

Food safety
  • Foreign objects in foodstuffs
  • Detection of bones in meat and fish
  • Fat content determination
  • Glass-in-glass detection
Mining
  • Sorting of ores according to their mineral content
  • Detection of diamonds
  • Detection of materials
  • Quantification of the mineral content (e.g. of ores)
Recycling
  • Sorting of scrap according to its metal content
  • Foreign object detection in recycling processes
  • Detection of recyclable materials
  • Detection of foreign bodies and impurities 
  • Detection of contaminations in material flows
  • Recovery of recyclable materials
  • Sorting of (waste) wood
Quality control
  • Increase of material contrasts
  • Quantification of material mixtures
  • Completeness check
  • Thickness measurement
  • Determination of areal density
Process control
  • Foreign object detection in waste flows
  • Material flow monitoring
© Fraunhofer IIS
The image shows a normal X-ray image of a nut mixture in a plastic packaging with round aluminum test bodies in the high-energy channel. The left box contains test bodies of a size of 4 mm down to 2 mm, the right box of 2 mm down to 0.8 mm.
© Fraunhofer IIS
In direct comparison: this image shows the same test object after the evaluation applying the Dual Energy algorithm. The areal density of aluminum is now clearly visible.

What are the components of the Dual Energy-Kit?

© Fraunhofer IIS
  1. Hardware
  • Calibration phantom for affine transformation of the dual energy images 
  • Calibration phantom for spectral characterization of the system 
  • Detailed handbook for easy application of software and hardware
  • Training documentation for operators and service staff in order to facilitate the commissioning of systems

2. Dual Energy classifier

  • For testing the suitability of Dual Energy for various applications
  • Automatic calibration of the system by means of included calibration phantoms (hardware)
  • Automatic determination of the necessary parameters for the Dual Energy evaluation
  • Parameter data sets are stored as configuration data and transmitted to API
  • Machine learning methods can be accessed for classification

3. Software API for integration

  • It is possible to integrate the Dual Energy evaluation into existing control software

Software and hardware from a single source, if desired

© Fraunhofer IIS

The Dual Energy Kit is ideally suited for retrofitting and upgrading an existing X-ray infrastructure.

Our X-ray experts will be glad to assist you by developing a control software adapted to your individual requirements or to design and construct an X-ray system suitable for your application field. 

Please contact us anytime!

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