Not a promise - Results on nitrogen and DEF matrices.
Feasibility studies on genuine fertilizer and DEF/AdBlue samples: what was measured, how well it correlated with the reference method, and what your chemistry gets before anything is installed.
A validated measurement on your matrix - before any hardware.
A Gekko feasibility study answers one question: can Raman measure your parameter, in your chemistry, at the accuracy you need. Real samples, a chemometric model built for your matrix, and a report that states what works and what does not - before any instrument commitment.
The study runs in the Gekko lab on the benchtop Spectrally X1 LAB - the same measurement and model stack that later runs inline on the Spectrally X1 INLINE at your line, where the analyzer reads composition in the pipe, reactor or mixer itself, with no sampling. What you see in the report is what the analyzer will read in production.
Your samples, measured against your reference method
Nitrogen fertilizers and DEF/AdBlue are not a generic matrix. Every result on this page comes from measurements on real samples - urea-based fertilizer granules in native form, aqueous ammonium-nitrate effluent, phosphoric-acid suspension, rinse water. Each study correlates the Raman spectrum with the method the producer trusts today - Kjeldahl total nitrogen, refractometry, titration, ion chromatography - and reports the agreement it found.
- Measured on a Spectrally X1 Raman spectrometer - 785 nm or 1064 nm laser, 8 cm⁻¹ resolution, 300-3500 cm⁻¹ range
- At-line in vials or on a rotating plate, in-line with an immersion probe, or on-site at the plant with a mobile unit.
- Model metrics reported against your reference values, limitations included
Representative process samples - granules, IBC or tanker draws, reactor pulls, effluent - or existing spectra and reference datasets.
Full-spectrum models - band integration, regression, CNN - correlated against your reference method, not against assumptions.
Spectra, band assignments, model metrics versus reference values, and a clear result: positive, partial or negative.
The study runs before any instrument decision. If the measurement does not hold up, the report says so.
Numbers first. The full studies follow below.
Three results from feasibility work on nitrogen-fertilizer and DEF/AdBlue matrices - each measured on genuine samples and correlated against the reference method. These are feasibility findings, not deployment figures.
Total nitrogen in fertilizer granules.
Very strong linear correlation at R = 0.91 between the raw Raman spectrum and declared total nitrogen, read through the nitrate band near 1050 cm⁻¹ across 16 samples in the study register across the full declared range.
Nitrate nitrogen, read directly.
Nitrate identified on an isolated band near 1044 cm⁻¹ and quantified by direct band integration, with measurement repeatability at a standard deviation around 0.0004 a.u.
Ammonium nitrogen via chemometrics.
Where the N-H signal is masked by water, a chemometric model on ammonium-nitrate standards reached high R² with a mean prediction error near 0.069% across the 2.01-10.76% N-NH₄⁺ standard range.
Four feasibility studies, reported as measured.
The studies are anonymized by policy - no producer names, no locations. Everything else stays: the chemistry, the numbers and the limitations, including the ones that still need work before a pilot. Feasibility results, not deployments.
Total nitrogen from one spectrum, no sample prep.
A producer needed total nitrogen - the parameter declared under Regulation (EU) 2019/1009 - verified faster than the 60-90 minute Kjeldahl loop. The study measured urea-based fertilizer granules in their native form, carrying inorganic additives and an organic coating, with no preparation. Sixteen representative granule samples spanning the full declared nitrogen range were measured at-line on a rotating plate with an XYZ-positioned probe.
- Measured at 1064 nm to suppress the fluorescence from dopants and the organic coating.
- Total nitrogen read through the nitrate band near 1050 cm⁻¹, best descriptor Peak Area, with preprocessing limited to dark-spectrum subtraction.
- Very strong linear correlation, R = 0.91, on raw data - established before any chemometric model was built.
- The same spectra also resolved the coating and tentatively dolomite, pointing to multi-parameter potential.
Nitrate read directly, ammonium through the model.
An ammonium-nitrate producer needed nitrogen composition in an aqueous effluent that swings hard - pH 1 to 12, 20 to 60 °C, low viscosity with small, occasional turbidity spikes. Roughly one minute of acquisition was sufficient for both nitrogen forms. The nitrogen chemistry transfers directly to UAN/RSM, where the same two species set the declared %N.
- Nitrate identified directly on an isolated band near 1044 cm⁻¹ (symmetric stretch), quantified by band integration, repeatability at a standard deviation around 0.0004 a.u.
- Ammonium N-H bands are masked by the broad water O-H signal and are not observable in the current optical configuration.
- Addressed with a chemometric model on ammonium-nitrate standards (2.01-10.76% N-NH₄⁺): high R², mean prediction error near 0.069% over the standard range.
- Stated limits: direct ammonium at single-ppm level needs an optics change - a smaller grating - and calibration on real effluent.
A suspension that has to be filtered first.
A fertilizer producer wanted P₂O₅ and sulfuric acid in a phosphoric-acid suspension at pH around 1 - adjacent fertilizer chemistry rather than nitrogen. Measured in situ, the suspension defeats Raman: the solid phase, fluorescence and interference fringes swamp the signal. After centrifugation, the picture is clean.
- Ex-situ on the clarified liquid: clear bands at 890 cm⁻¹ (phosphoric) and 976 cm⁻¹ (sulfuric), with quantitative potential.
- In-situ measurement in the raw suspension was not feasible - reported as measured, not glossed over.
- Recommendation: on-line automatic filtration ahead of the probe.
Where Raman draws its own boundary in rinse water.
A study on cleaning-water contaminants marked the limit directly. Sodium is Raman-inactive and cannot be measured; sulfate stands in as a cleanliness surrogate for it. This is adjacent fertilizer feasibility - a boundary study, not a composition model.
- Sulfate (SO₄²⁻) measurable and usable as a cleanliness indicator where the Raman-inactive Na⁺ cannot be read.
- Nitrate detectable at higher concentration on a band above 1000 cm⁻¹.
- The value here is a clear statement of what the technique covers in rinse water, and what it does not.
Eighteen studies. Not eighteen success stories.
The feasibility registry spans eleven industrial segments. Results are reported as measured: positive, partial or negative. Partial means feasible with stated conditions - usually more reference data, an optics change or a pilot. One study came back negative, and the report said so.
Run on real customer samples across eleven industrial segments.
Total-N granules, ammonium and nitrate N, phosphoric-acid and cleaning-water feasibility - detailed above.
Plus 12 partial - feasible, with the conditions stated in the report.
Where the measurement did not hold up, the report said so.
From a crate of samples to a validation report.
The sequence is the same whether the study runs in the Gekko lab or on-site at your plant with a mobile unit.
Measured against your reference, not ours
Study samples are read in parallel on the Raman system and the method you trust today - Kjeldahl total nitrogen, refractometry, titration, ion chromatography. The model is only as good as its agreement with those values, and that agreement is what the report shows.
The mode matches your process
At-line in vials or on a rotating plate for screening, an immersion probe for process-like conditions, or on-site measurement with a mobile unit. The studies above used at-line and ex-situ measurement on real material.
Limitations in writing
Water-masked ammonium bands, an optics change for single-ppm work, filtration ahead of the probe, sparse reference data - whatever the study finds goes in the report, together with what is needed to close it before a pilot.
What lands on your desk.
Every study closes with the same set of deliverables - the same ones the studies above produced.
Measured spectra with band assignments, model performance against your reference values, and a clear statement of the result.
A chemometric model scoped to your chemistry - full-spectrum regression, CNN or direct band integration - with its validity range stated.
Where the measurement should sit - immersion probe in the reactor, mixer or circulation line - and the recommended hardware configuration for a pilot.
Open items and what closes them - additional reference samples, an optics change, upstream filtration - so the pilot decision rests on facts.
The hardware the model runs on
A positive study transfers to the process as Spectrally X1 INLINE with the immersion Spectrally X1 PROBE, and Spectrally OS turning the spectrum into process values for your control system. The model built in the study becomes the starting point for pilot calibration under dynamic process conditions - the same chemistry, the same bands, on your line. The study establishes deployment feasibility on your matrix and hands you the accuracy figures and the savings case to take forward.
Run the next study on your nitrogen or DEF stream.
Send representative samples or R&D data from your urea, UAN/RSM, AdBlue/DEF or biuret process. We measure them against your reference method - Kjeldahl, refractometry, titration or ion chromatography - build a chemometric model on your matrix and report the result - positive, partial or negative - before any hardware commitment.