X-RAY SIMULATIONS FOR IMAGING APPLICATIONS IN THE AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD-INDUSTRIES

X-rays have not yet been used to their fullest potential in a range of application areas, especially the agricultural and food industries. A s a sub-surface technique, X-ray radiation can give three-dimensional information about the spatial density differences and changes of the a tomic number within a sample. To get a better understanding of the pot ential of X-ray imaging most of the physical processes involved can be described by certain computational simulation programs, for which a d ivision can be made between linear attenuation and full photon history descriptions. Specific areas of interest are small changes in the den sity of materials which consist of low atomic number elements, and the use of scattered photon information. Specific results from both the l inear attenuation and the full photon history approaches are presented , their usefulness for X-ray imaging, and application areas are discus sed. The simulation approaches concentrate on the detection of perspex , a soft plastic, and cellulose in a water environment. Possible appli cations of these techniques within the agricultural and food industrie s, such as foreign-body detection, quality control and food processing , are indicated. (C) 1996 Silsoe Research Institute