Optik 126 (2015) 2383–2385

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Optik
journal homepage: www.elsevier.de/ijleo

Refractive index based optical Brix measurement technique

with equilateral angle prism for sugar and Allied Industries
M.L. Dongare a,∗ , P.B. Buchade b , A.D. Shaligram c
a
Department of Electronic Science Annasaheb Awate College Manchar, Pune, India
b
Department of Electronic Science, Abasaheb Garware College, Pune 04, India
c
Department of Electronic Science, University of Pune, Pune 411007, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The refractometers are simple optical instruments for measuring dissolved solid contents by measuring
Received 20 April 2014 the refractive index of a process solution by means of the total reflection created at the interface between
Accepted 30 May 2015 an optical window and the sample solution. A beam ray from light source is directed to the interface
between optical window and the sample solution. A part of the beam of ray is reflected from the solution
Keywords: entirely and partly refracted and absorbed in a solution. This causes an image, in which the location
Brix
of borderline between light area depends on the critical angle of the total reflection and thus on the
Prism
refractive index of the process solution. As concentration of sugar increases, the Brix and its refractive
Critical angle
Refractive index
index increases, and therefore critical angle increases. The light reflection on detector decreases, which
Detector increases LDR resistance. As it is in upper arm of potential divider it decreases output voltage. Analog to
digital converter, signal conditioning unit and microcontroller are developed for proper calibration and
displaying the reading on LCD. The results are reported in this paper.
© 2015 Published by Elsevier GmbH.

1. Introduction
The term “Brix” technically means the percent by weight of
sugar solids in a pure sucrose solution. In canned fruits, fruit juice,
and similar products it is commonly used as a convenient term
to express the percent by weight of all soluble solids in solutions
that are generally not pure sucrose but which contain sweeten-
ers or mixtures of two or more types of sweeteners and small
amount of other substances [1,2]. The instruments generally used
for Brix measurement are the Brix hydrometer and the refrac-
tometer. These instruments are affected not only by the sugars
present in a product but also by such substances as fruit acid and
minerals [3,4].
Optical techniques developed for sensing and analysis purposes
are being used in various fields. In the Abbe refractometer, refrac-
tive index RI and percentage of sugar are directly read on the scale
image in the field of view. It uses white light source and its range
extends from 1.3330 to 1.7100, and covers Brix scale from 0 to 95,
with minimum scale .01Brix and accuracy ±0.05 Brix. Bauch and
Lomb precision refractometer which is specially designed for sugar
work uses a sodium vapor lamp, with vernier scale arrangement
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 9823244245.
E-mail address: mld47@rediffmail.com (M.L. Dongare).
covering accuracy 0.00003 of RI and less than 0.02 Brix. Various
optical firms have developed handheld refractometers as well as
immersion type refractometers. Some automatic refractometers
which give direct reading of Brix using a tungsten halogen lamp
ranges from 0 to 95 Brix with accuracy of ±0.1 percent. Hence
refractometer is used as a convenient measurand for RI as well
as Brix and can be used in quality control e.g. Brix measurement
of sugar in comestibles, RI measurement of turbid colloidal fluids,
milk, etc.
Brix is measured primarily by gravimetric method like the
hydrometer, the Westphal balance and the Pycnometer. Of these
the hydrometer is by far the most common. However these mea-
surement techniques are inadequate as well as inaccurate, because
of manual errors. For the high precision measurement, optical
instruments are used. There are several well known types of refrac-
tometer available which are based on either refraction or critical
reflection of light. Among these critical angle based RI measure-
ment is more suitable because it is neither affected by suspended
solids nor by color of solution. Hence refractometer is used as a
convenient measure and for refractive index as well as Brix and
can be used in quality control e.g. Brix measurement of sugar in
comestibles, RI measurement of turbid colloidal fluids, milk, etc.
[3–5].
The relationship between RI and amount of dry substance con-
tent is well known for sucrose and is the basis of Brix scale, which

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijleo.2015.05.137
0030-4026/© 2015 Published by Elsevier GmbH.
2384 M.L. Dongare et al. / Optik 126 (2015) 2383–2385

Fig. 1. Proposed architectural model of Brix meter.

Fig. 2. Photograph of Brix meter.

is the measure of the number of grams of sucrose present per 100 g

An optoelectronic sensor assembly with prism and instrumenta-
of aqueous sugar solution The knowledge of refractive index is use-
tion setup as shown in Fig. 2, is developed and experimental studies
ful in identifying and determining the concentration of organic
have been carried out with it. The selected prism from simulation
substances. Accurate refractometric measurements are required
study is en suited in a prism coupling pad. Prism locating pins are
in optical industry in order to increase the quality and reliability
used with screw arrangement for its appropriate fitting. LED as a
of optical instrument and in chemical industry for monitoring the
light source is mounted in a predefined location at the first plane
substance composition.
of prism at proper distance and making suitable cone angle with
Mathematical modeling and simulation of the proposed system
the prism. Three leveling screws are used in tripod arrangement
has been performed. From the study it is seen that the mathemati-
for making flat and equalized arrangement. LDR is mounted in a
cal model may help for obtaining a better performance to develop
sliding frame which can move in a up and downward direction by
an experimental model [6]. Optimization of various constructional
rotating a route bolt arrangement. The face of LDR is made parallel
parameters included selection and location of source, prism and
with the third plane of the prism. While performing measurements
detector, position of source, angular position and height of source
this assembly is placed over a petridish containing the specimen
from prism plane, divergent angle of source, refractive index of
such that the prism dips in the solution.
prism, size of prism, the location of detector to pickup the opti-
For the purpose of initial setting the distilled water is used as a
mum reflected light, refractive index of sample, critical angle, and
specimen and the LDR is moved in such fashion as to obtain largest
choice of suitable prism. The various possibilities of mounting posi-
voltage output. This insures the dark edge to be coinciding with the
tion of source, detector, and Prism are studied. In the present work
top of the LDR. As discussed earlier, this setting is necessary to get
refractive index based prism assembly with optoelectronic sensor is
maximum refractive index range coverage for its given sized LDR.
developed while strongly considering the modeling and simulation
Fig. 3 is a photograph of the developed Brix meter including the
to implement it in experimental work.
prism assembly and an electronic read out. The system is then used
Sample was prepared by adding distilled water in ‘X’ gram of
to study the response of the sensor for commercial sugar and then
Sugar, to make it 100 g by weight is refereed as a ‘X’ Brix. Exper-
for spent wash sample. The RI of sample solution ns is considered
imental studies on Brix measurement of various samples with
as ranging from 1.332986 to 1.503980 i.e. Sucrose g/100 g Brix for
sugar solution have been carried out using developed assembly.
The mechanical assembly of developed system consisting of opti-
cal configuration with LED as a source, LDR as a optical detector,
prism and developed. Trial1
5.6 Trial2
2. Operating principle and constructional details Trial3
5.5 Trial4
Trial5
The proposed architectural model as per requirement is shown Trial6
in Fig. 1 and accordingly it is designed. Mathematical model is based 5.4 Trial7
OutputVolage(V)

on optical geometry for the prism refractometer used in measure- Trial8

ment of Brix. Simulation and experimental results show very good 5.3 Trial9
correlation [6].
The following parameters of components were selected for 5.2
experimentation with mathematical model based on optical geom-
etry of prism refractometer used in measurement of Brix and its 5.1
modeling and simulation was carried out.
5.0
The base of prism b = 32 mm.
Angle of prism  p = 60◦ . 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Refractive index of RI prism np = 1.72. Brix
LED of 650 nm with  s = 30◦ , and radius r = 10 mm.
LED mounted at c = 23 mm. Fig. 3. Output voltage variations with Brix of sample.
 M.L. Dongare et al. / Optik 126 (2015) 2383–2385 2385

7 7
Brix35 Brix35 B rix35
6
6
Brix30
Corrected Voltages(V)

5 Trial 1

Out put Voltage

Trial 2 5
4 Trial 3
Brix25 Brix25
Trial 4 4
Trial 5
3
Trial 6
Trial 7 3
2 Trial 8 Brix15
Trial 9
2
1
Brix12 Brix12
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 1 Brix5 Brix5
Brix
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Fig. 4. Experimentally corrected output voltage with common mode rejection (cor-
rection factor at zero Brix) against the estimated Brix. Tim e (m in)

0–85. In the experimental process, RI of prepared sample solution Fig. 5. Repeatability of experimental setup for the measurement of Brix.

with commercial sugar is obtained by the relational expression of

ICUMSA (International Commission on Uniform Method of Sugar
Analysis) table (1974) for pure sucrose. The Brix of the same sample
was measured with hydrometer. The samples were prepared from
1 to 35 Brix. The repeatability for the same sample was noted nine
times after every 30 min.
The experimentation was carried out in three stages:
1. Initial run to observe the feasibility of developed model.
2. Calibration of the sensor output against the standard hydromet-
ric reading.
3. Read out the Brix on LCD with microcontroller.
The response shown in Figs. 3 and 4 is experimentally corrected
with common mode rejection (correction factor at zero Brix).
The linear nature of the plot indicates usefulness of this devel-
oped setup for direct Brix measurement. Initially the developed
system is used to study the response of the sensor assembly to the
change in the concentration of glucose, sucrose, and sugar and then
for spent wash sample. For validation of the developed system sam-
ple solution of various Brix values (7–35 Brix) was prepared and
measured with hydrometer. Commercial sugar from grocery shop
was used for sample preparation. The method used for the prepara-
tion of sample is in accordance with the foregoing discussion. The
sample was prepared by taking weight by weight. The same pro-
cedure is repeated for different concentration. The response with
different Brix sample was tested and is shown in Fig. 5. Repeatabil-
ity for different Brix sample is shown in Fig. 5.
3. Results and discussion
Experimental results with the fabricated assembly show that
this instrument gives directly the measurement of Brix in a given
sample. The experimental response is shown in Fig. 3. As the Brix
of sample increases, due to change in critical angle, the light expo-
sure on LDR is maximum, which decreases the LDR value. As LDR
is used in potential divider arrangement at lower side, and the
output voltage decreases which is shown in Fig. 4. Experimentally
corrected output voltage with common mode rejection (correction
factor at zero Brix) against the estimated Brix is shown in Fig. 5. The
experimental set-up developed with using mathematical model
can be effectively used for the measurement of Brix up to from
1 to 35.
4. Conclusions
It is hoped that the technique will help in process control and
regulatory instrumentation in a food and sugar related industry for
the design and development of robust device which can be useful
on-line. The system features provide the means of optimizing the
Brix measurement assembly in specific required application. The
system can be used extensively in food processing industry, for the
measurement of concentration of sugar in aqueous solutions of soft
drinks, juices, colas, nectars, and lactic acid beverages and can be
used in a variety of other uses.
Acknowledgments
The authors express sincere thanks to BCUD, University of
Pune Pune-07 for sanctioning a sufficient amount under Qual-
ity Improvement Program to carry out the quality work. We are
also thankful to Principal, Rayat Shikshan’s Annasaheb Awate Col-
lege, Manchar Dist, Pune (MS), Principal, Abasaheb Garware College
Pune and the Head of the Department of Electronic Science Univer-
sity of Pune, Pune-07, for continuous encouragement to promote
the research activity.
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