Laboratory tests

Cargo sampling is one of the survey’s services. Due to this service the surveyor see after quality control of the cargos throughout transportation. Sampling with further examination at the laboratory is used for bulk, liquid cargo, food stuffs, grain, and fertilizer and so on. Sampling helps to set cargo’s quality and its conformity with the State All-Union and international standards.

Tests are going through technical and chemical analysis in special regulated laboratory in accordance with international standards. Sampling is taken at every step of transportation during loading, transloading and unloading. This service helps the surveyor to control cargo quality and its state and to inform the client about divergence of parameters in time.

Our company work together with the best research laboratories that helps to make cargo laboratory tests prompt and on the fly.

Analysis is the main purpose of non-food cargo inspection. This type of inspection includes sampling, laboratory tests and comparison test data with specified. The key point of the inspection are proper sampling (means taking the selected sample out from the shipment. The sample which conforms the whole shipment in its quality). Selection of a laboratory which matches for sampling in accordance with requirements applicable to the concrete cargo.

IQube company has its own laboratories for grain, oil-plant and seed oil export quality report. These laboratories are placed in Novorossiysk and Rostov-on-Don. Laboratories are mounted with the most modern equipment of the leader global major manufacturers in accordance with certificates of GAFTA, FOSFA, ISO 9001:2008.

With the help of our equipment we could determine a lot of different parameters for grain, oil-plant and seed oil including:

•        Humidity

•        Natural weight

•        Protein on a dry basis

•        Falling number

•        Gluten

•        Cell differentiation index

•        Flavor strength

•        Black dockage

•        Fiber

•        Fat

•        Ignition residue

•        Ash insoluble in salt acid

•        Oil content

•        Grain sizing

•        Nitrogen content

•        And many other

During cargo operations such as taking over on the elevator, storage, grain loading on the seacraft it is necessary to control grain’s quality. Our laboratory has all necessary equipment to determine main grain parameters not only in accordance with Russian standards but also with international ones.

The main parameter of wheat grain quality is protein weight fraction (protein). To determine this index in accordance with the State All-Union standard and ISO we use Kjeidahl’s method. Also for automatization and cutting time for analysis we use not only Kjeidahl’s method but also modern automatic system VELP which consists from sample burning blockDK-6 and automatic distillator UDK 159.

•                    Other not less important criteria of grain– quantity and quality of gluten we determine with the help of several methods. The first one is the most commonly spread method – handwash gluten test and determination its quality property at Cell differentiation index device. And another method is generally accepted in international practice – gluten test method using “Glutematic 2200” devise made by Swedish firm «Perten Instruments АВ».

When grain humidity grows up (especially when the weather conditions are negative, ex. rains, high humidity during the harvest time) grain start to grow in the process of after-ripening. This factor has an adverse effect on flour baking capacity for bread making. Our laboratory has an ultramodern analyzer Falling Number 1700 made by Swedish company «Perten Instruments АВ» that permits to determine grain damage because of intergrowth with high precision. During transportation, transloading and storage grain may get wet. Untimely detecting of wet grain can lead to devastating impacts, destroying the whole grain lot because of the fire-fanging. In spite of the fact that humidity determination is not the most difficult factor we nevertheless use the most modern equipment for determination this index – Cupboard drier made by German company Binder. All the above mentioned methods are classical, reference and highly precise. But these procedures can take several hours to be held. For online determination of grain quality we have express analyzer Informatik 9 500 made by Sweden company «Perten Instruments АВ».

In our laboratory could find necessary equipment for determination of feedstuff quality indexes. Often in addition to abovementioned indexes of protein and humidity content it is necessary to determine indexes of oil and gluten content. Oil content is one of the main indexes for oilseeds and feedstuff quality. To determine oil content index we use not only Soxhlet method which takes more than 10 hours but also Soxhlet-Randal method for which we need much more less time. For this method we use modern automatic extractor SER 148/3 made by company VELP. We use fiber analyzer FIWE 6 (company VELP) to determine fiber content in feedstuff in accordance with ISO 6865, State All-Union standard Р 52839-2007. This analyzer is help to do fast tests and to get consistant results with high precise and repeatability.

Survey service in consulting is including obligatory inspection of cargo damage. Surveyor makes regular inspections and mark if the cargo is damaged and also gets to the bottom of cargo damage. It is very important for the vessel’s owner as the right determination of cargo damage reasons gives opportunity to understand if it is an insurable event and if the cargo’s owner receives amends. While investigation of an insurable event the employee for the survey company serves as average commissar.

- Determination of Lovibond colour

- Flashpoint limit test using Pensky-Martens closed cup flash tester
- Free fatty acid content

- Insoluble impurities content
- Iodine value (Wijs)
- Conventional mass per volume (litre weight in air)
- Melting point in open capillary tubes (slip point

- Moisture and volatile matter content

- Peroxide value Iodometric (visual) endpoint determination

For tests with measurement in our laboratory we use glass drop meter as also as titration system 848 Titrino made by Swedish company Metrohm. It is a very modern and reliable titration that gives highly précised results.