Although there have been some marginally portable near infrared (NIR) spectrometers available for a number of years, the market has recently taken off. This is due to the rise of more effective handheld NIR instruments. While the primary applications for portable and handheld NIR instruments are in the polymers and plastics industry, there is growing and potential demand in other application areas. The competitive landscape consists mostly of smaller, innovative companies that have experienced sudden growth.

Technological advancement has been the biggest driver of the portable and handheld NIR market. Smaller and more powerful batteries and improved electronics have helped, but the application of MEMS (Micro Electromechanical System) technology to the systems was the real catalyst. The technology allows for the development of reliable, compact and robust handheld NIR instrumentation..

The end-market that has been the biggest beneficiary of the development of handheld NIR is the plastics and polymers industry. NIR is adept at identifying types of plastics and, therefore, is useful in a portable configuration for recycling. NIR is widely used in food analysis lab for verifying the components of food and feed products, as well as in some on-line configurations, making portable NIR an obvious fit. Although other techniques are more widely used for detecting explosives, toxic chemicals and potential chemical warfare agents, NIR is capable of identifying many classes of such compounds and can also identify narcotics. As a result, a number of portable NIR instruments target the customs-enforcement and first-responder markets.

A fast growing application for portable and handheld NIR is the identification of incoming raw materials for pharmaceutical manufacturing. Other small but growing niche applications include coating-thickness analysis and composite structure analysis in the aerospace industry and octane analysis in the petroleum industry.

Polychromix was the first major entrant into the handheld NIR market with the introduction of the PhazIR in mid-2006 (see IBO 4/30/06). PhazIR sales to the polymers and plastics industry has made the company the leading vendor in the handheld NIR market. Polychromix has since introduced a number of variants of the same instrument platform designed for other applications. Following the PhazIR’s introduction was the release of the Anavo handheld NIR by Axsun Technologies. The Anavo is specifically targeted at the recycling market. Both Polychromix and Axsun’s systems utilize MEMS technology.

The market for handheld and portable NIR systems has grown from less than $30 million in 2006 to what should be more than double that in 2009. While such meteoric growth rates will not continue, IBO does expect double-digit annual growth in demand for the foreseeable future due to the wide range of potential and rising applications for the technique.

Handheld and Portable NIR

at a Glance:

Leading Suppliers

• Axsun Technologies

• ASD

• Polychromix

Largest Markets

• Plastics and Polymers

• Agriculture and Food

• Safety and Security

Instrument Cost

• $18,000–$30,000