Sensor Review

Non-destructive methods for the measurement of moisture contents – a review

Divya Nath K. Prabhu Ramanathan
Article information:
To cite this document:
Divya Nath K. Prabhu Ramanathan , (2017),"Non-destructive methods for the measurement of moisture contents – a review ",
Sensor Review, Vol. 37 Iss 1 pp. 71 - 77
Permanent link to this document:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/SR-01-2016-0032
Downloaded on: 19 March 2017, At: 04:05 (PT)
References: this document contains references to 44 other documents.
To copy this document: permissions@emeraldinsight.com
The fulltext of this document has been downloaded 40 times since 2017*
Users who downloaded this article also downloaded:
Downloaded by Fudan University At 04:05 19 March 2017 (PT)

(2017),"Segmentation of ordered point cloud using a novel measure of terrain unevenness", Sensor Review, Vol. 37 Iss 1 pp.
88-100 http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/SR-04-2016-0078
(2017),"A survey on clustering routing protocols in wireless sensor networks", Sensor Review, Vol. 37 Iss 1 pp. 12-25 http://
dx.doi.org/10.1108/SR-06-2016-0104

Access to this document was granted through an Emerald subscription provided by emerald-srm:543096 []
For Authors
If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service
information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit
www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information.
About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.com
Emerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of
more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online
products and additional customer resources and services.
Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics
(COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation.

*Related content and download information correct at time of download.

 Non-destructive methods for the
measurement of moisture contents – a review
Divya Nath K. and Prabhu Ramanathan
Department of Control and Automation, VIT University, Vellore, India

Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the moisture measurement techniques presently available, as accurate determination of the
moisture content (MC) of grains or any food items at right time is very important for its processing, marketing and storing.
Design/methodology/approach – There are basically two types of MC measurement techniques – destructive method and non-destructive method. In
the time-consuming destructive method, cleaning of the food items is done and shells of food items like peanuts are removed for which man power is
required and so the technique becomes costly. A literature review of the existing non-destructive methods has been done, and the methodology of each
approach is explained with the figure. The less time-consuming non-destructive technique used to measure MC require less man power, as grains or food
items can be directly used without any process like cleaning or crushing so that the technique become economic.
Findings – Most of the techniques used magnetic or electric properties to measure the MC indirectly. The problem with existing non-destructive
technique is that measurement of MC uses only few numbers or grams of grains or food items at a time.
Research limitations/implications – The farmers’ produce large quantity of grains. The small quantity of grains cannot be the representative
sample for whole grains produced by the farmers. Most of the techniques use only small quantity of grains or food items at a time to measure the
Downloaded by Fudan University At 04:05 19 March 2017 (PT)

MC which is not accurate and representative of the produce. Also, the techniques are not simple and easily available. The cost of the techniques
or arrangement to measure the MC is not reasonable.
Social implications – Most of the farmers in the developing countries are financially backward. To store the agricultural produce, MC of the
commodities is a key factor influencing the quality of the storage. Measurement of the MC of the seeds is thus very important for the farmers.
Originality/value – This paper is a review of the previous research that happened in this area, and it would help the researcher to know the
techniques already been used. To the knowledge of the authors, the review of the existing moisture measurement of seeds/agricultural commodities
is available in the literature.
Keywords Dielectric constant, Attenuation, Dissipation factor, Loss tangent, Moisture content, Non-destructive method
Paper type Case study

1. Introduction or dielectric constant, which have indirect relation with MC will

Agriculture is the largest livelihood provider in India. It
contributes a significant figure to the gross domestic
production. The effective storage of food grains thus assumes
utmost importance to the farmer. The spoilage of grains
during the storage period depends on combination of three
factors, namely, temperature, moisture and oxygen content
(Loewer et al., 1994). During storage, the combined effect of
these three factors would cause severe loss. Thus, it became
imperative to the farmers to assess the moisture content (MC)
of food grains to avoid storage losses (Alwis et al., 2013).
Measurement of the MC makes it easier for the farmers in the
post-production operations like storing, processing and
marketing of the food grains (Xu et al., 2004). MC can be
measured by two methods: direct or indirect. The difference
in weights of wet grains and dry grains is measured, and the
MC is calculated (Nigmatullin et al., 2008). This direct
method is time-consuming, as the wet grains have to dry
properly. In indirect method, physical properties like permittivity
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on
Emerald Insight at: www.emeraldinsight.com/0260-2288.htm
be measured. For the MC measurement, high frequency signals
are usually used. This is because at high frequencies, sensitivity of
measurement is more, and at low frequencies, variation in
calibration is not accountable (Nelson and Trabelsi, 2010a,
2010b; Trabelsi and Nelson, 2010; Nelson and Trabelsi, 2011a).
2. Techniques
The time-consuming capacitive type moisture meters were
used in early twentieth century to measure MC. Previously
used were resistance-type electrical grain moisture meters
(Nelson, 1991, 1977; Nelson et al., 2000). The MC of soil was
measured using Electrical resistance method (Nelson and
Bartley, 2002; Briggs, 1908b). Electric current was allowed to
pass through one metallic rod to another metallic rod through
soil. Resistance is inversely proportional to MC. Lesser is the
MC, larger the resistance. When the current was passed
through soil, from electrodes, translocation of salt and
cracking of soil took place. This was the main disadvantage of
this technique, but the same technique was used in 1908 by
Briggs for the measurement of MC of wheat (Nelson and
Bartley, 2002; Nelson, 2006; Briggs, 1908a, 1908b). The

Sensor Review
37/1 (2017) 71–77 Received 30 January 2016
© Emerald Publishing Limited [ISSN 0260-2288] Revised 4 August 2016
[DOI 10.1108/SR-01-2016-0032] Accepted 9 August 2016

71
 Methods for the measurement of moisture contents Sensor Review
Divya Nath K. and Prabhu Ramanathan Volume 37 · Number 1 · 2017 · 71–77

disadvantage of Resistance methods was that food items were ⌬A兹␧⬘␭o

crushed and wasted. The advantage is its reduced cost (Kim Loss tangent, ␧⬙ ⬇ (4)
8.686␲d
et al., 2002; Jiang and Ji, 2009).

冉 冊
It is a tedious laboratory procedure to measure the MC
⌬␾␭o 2
using the standard techniques. The electrical, nuclear Dielectric constant ␧⬘ ⬇ 1 ⫹ (5)
magnetic resonance [NMR] and the near-infra red [NIR] have 360d
been used to measure the MC (Nelson and Trabelsi, 2010a,
If the frequency and size of the samples placed in the sample
2010b, 2011a, 2011b). More time is required to prepare the
holder remains constant, then the attenuation is directly
samples for NMR and NIR and its high cost made the
proportional to dielectric property of moist grain. The
technique less attractive (Cai et al., 2014). The indirect
commercial equipment which measure MC was developed
electrical measurements are more practical and commonly
with this method though the technique is very expensive.
used technique. At high frequency, permittivity or dielectric
Trabelsi and Nelson developed a microwave moisture
properties of grains or seeds [wheat and soybean] were
meter as in Figure 2 with an operating frequency of 5.8
correlated with moisture (Nelson and Trabelsi, 2011a,
GHz. It was a non-destructive and an instantaneous
2011b). The dielectric constant, ␧ is proportional to
method to measure the MC of seeds and grains (Trabelsi
temperature at high frequencies. It is non-linear at low
and Nelson, 2010). The phase shift, attenuation and
frequencies and at high MC. There is a linear relation between
dielectric properties of grains were found using the
MC, temperature, frequency and dielectric constants
principle of free space transmission. The mixer has two
(Lawrence et al., 1990). Many equipments presently available
ports – Local oscillator (LO) port and radio frequency (RF)
in market, the conductance meters, parallel plate capacitance
port. LO port receives microwave reference signal directly.
Downloaded by Fudan University At 04:05 19 March 2017 (PT)

or coaxial sample holders with grains between electrodes

works under this linearity principle (Nelson, 1977, 1992; Will
and Rolfes, 2013).
After knowing the dielectric property of barley and rice
grain, moisture meter was developed. The moisture density
and attenuation at 10.5 GHz microwave signals were used to
measure the MC (Kim et al., 2002). The moisture density is
obtained by multiplying MC with bulk density. The author
used the moisture meter shown in Figure 1 to measure the
MC, and it consists of rectangular sample holder, temperature
sensor, power supply, dielectric resonator type oscillator, load
cell, isolator, detector, horn antenna and digital voltmeter.
The dielectric property of wet food items was obtained using
S21 parameter of the transmission coefficient. The S21
parameter was measured at 10.5 GHz with the help of Figure 1.
The phase shift and the attenuation of the signal were
obtained with the help of equations (2) and (3). Where n is the
integer and Ø is the phase shift.
The measured transmission coefficient, S21 ⫽ ⱍ S21 ⱍ ejA (1)
Attenuation of the signal, A ⫽ ⫺20log ⱍ S21 ⱍ (2)
Total phase shift of the signal, ⌽ ⫽ 2␲n ⫹ A (3)
RF port receives electromagnetic energy radiated by the
signal passing through the sample grains via transmitting
antenna. RF input signal is mixed in two ways in the mixer:
1 900 phase shifted LO signal is mixed with RF signal and
produces a signal VQ, where VQ ⫽ VRF K sinØ.
2 In phase LO signal is mixed with RF signal and produces
the signal VI, where VI ⫽ VRF K cosØ.
Note: K represents the conversion loss of mixer.
VRF is the value of instantaneous maximum voltage.
Ø is the phase angle difference between LO and RF signal.
Attenuation Difference, ⌬A ⫽ Power level with sample in
sample holder – power level without sample in sample holder.
If Øs is the phase shift with sample and Øo is the phase shift
without sample in sample holder.
Phase Difference ⌬A ⫽ As ⫺ Ao (6)
Actual Phase Difference is, ⌬Aactual ⫽ 共As ⫺ A0兲 ⫺ 2␲n
(7)
␤2 ⫺ ␣2 2␣␤
␧⬘ ⫽ ␧⬙ ⫽ 2 (8)
␤20 ␤0

The difference in attenuation and phase shift of the signal Figure 2 Block diagram of microwave moisture meter
passing through the sample holder with and without grain
were obtained. Loss tangent and dielectric constant were
calculated using equations (4) and (5).

Figure 1 Block diagram of a grain moisture meter

72
 Methods for the measurement of moisture contents Sensor Review
Divya Nath K. and Prabhu Ramanathan Volume 37 · Number 1 · 2017 · 71–77

Where ␣ ⫽ ⌬A/8.68d and ␤ ⫽ ␤o ⫹ ⌬Øactual/d, n is the integer
and d is the size or thickness of sample.
MC can be measured using permittivity based algorithm
which uses dielectric properties. By designing capacitive-based
circuit (Baxter, 1997) and capacitive transducer structure
MC of soybean was obtained using differential frequency
technique (Kim et al., 2002). Three details of soybean were
collected. They are temperature, compact degree and
differential frequency which are related to MC and dielectric
characteristics. Relating these three physical quantities, three
mathematical models were made and selected one as optimal
model as it gave satisfactory result.
Dielectric constant of 12 grains were obtained using
immersion method (wheat, mustard, soybean, linseed, paddy,
pulses, rice, etc.) in the range of frequency 200 Hz to 2 KHz.
Figure 3 is double capacitor cell which was used to measure
MC (Tripathi et al., 1996).
The double capacitor cell consists of glass cell assembly with
upper and lower concentric capacitance system (CU and CL)
connected to general radio (GR) bridge to measure capacitance.
Downloaded by Fudan University At 04:05 19 March 2017 (PT)
input, dielectric model of grain moisture was made. The
reference value was the measured dielectric constant of model
of the grain. Figure 4 is the computing processes of the model
parameter in grain layer. The precision was checked after
comparing the dielectric constant of sample grain measured by
RIS-K2 radar wave with reference value. If precision is high
MC of sample grain is same as grain MC, and if precision is
low, parameters of dielectric model of grain moisture is
adjusted to increase its precision.
Instruments required to measure the MC of grains based on
virtual instruments technology are R-C pulse conversion circuit,
capacitive moisture sensor, RS485 serial communication as
hardware, temperature sensor, MCU8031 and software labview.
The hardware used to obtain the content of moisture is shown in
Figure 5 (Yaqui et al., 2011). The process of measuring MC
became digital with the hardware, software and artificial neural
network used in this technology.
With the use of magnet, a hardware equipment was
developed to measure the MC of grains by Tsukada and Kiwa
(2007). Figure 6 shows the diagram to measure MC by

Calibration was done using GR bridge and with known dielectric magnetic measurement system. The basic principle is that,
constant of a liquid (benzene, chlorobenzene). By measuring when the sample grain is exposed to magnet, a secondary
the capacitance readings of upper measuring system, the graph magnetic field is developed. The hardware consists of a lock in
was plotted between dielectric Versus CU. Benzene will be amplifier, cancellation coil, exposure coil (induction coil) and
filled in the system, after which, the Capacitance readings of magnetic sensor. The cancellation coil cancels the strong
CU and CL were measured. A few drops of nitrobenzene were
added and again the readings of CU and CL were noted. This Figure 4 Computing processes of the model parameter in grain
procedure is repeated by increasing the amount of nitrobenzene. layer
A curve between CU and ⌬C where ⌬CACU-CL were plotted.
Finally with benzene, the cell was half filled and sample of
grains were added to cover its lower region of measuring
system. After the grains got settled CU and CL are measured.
Few drops of nitrobenzene were added. This was repeated by
increasing nitrobenzene and measured CU and CL. The
variation between CU and ⌬C was plotted in the same graph
and intersection of two curves help to find the dielectric of
grain sample as at the point of intersection the cell filled with
benzene is equal to cell filled with grain. Therefore, at this
point, CU value was noted and dielectric of grain was obtained
from first graph.
On the basis of RIS-K2 (radiology information system)
radar-based electromagnetic wave technology, MC in grains
were measured (Yu et al., 2010). The frequency range used
was 80 to 200 MHz. With the MC of grain and “a” as the real
part and “b” as the imaginary part of dielectric constant as

Figure 3 Double capacitor cell

Figure 5 Hardware to obtain the content of moisture

73
 Methods for the measurement of moisture contents Sensor Review
Divya Nath K. and Prabhu Ramanathan Volume 37 · Number 1 · 2017 · 71–77

Figure 6 Schematic diagram to measure MC by magnetic 1 MHz with four stainless steel electrodes, LCR meter
measurement system (inductor-capacitor-resistor), RS-232 C interface, PC and
sample in glass cube. The block diagram is shown in Figure 7.
The empirical formula was developed. The results were more
accurate to multi-linear regression (MLR) values obtained
from MLR equation. The developed equation has only two
variables compared to MLR formula, and it was the advantage
of this method. Developed formula to measure MC is
provided in equation (9), where Z is the impedance and C is
the capacitance of tea leaves.

MC ⫽ ⫺3.655 ln共Z/C兲 ⫹ 167.77 (9)

Complex RF impedance method was used to measure the MC

of pecan, kernels and peanut with small parallel plate
capacitance as sensor (Nelson et al., 1992, Nelson, 1992,
1991). Impedance measurement was done using a specially
made electrode assembly. CU and CL were connected to the
Hewlett Packard LCR meter. MC of the peanut placed
between parallel plate capacitor is the function of mass,
complex permittivity ␧ ⫽ ␧= ⫺ j␧⬙ and geometry of peanut.
Downloaded by Fudan University At 04:05 19 March 2017 (PT)

The shape and mass vary from each nut and analytic functions
were difficult to describe. Impedance and capacitance were
calculated for two different frequencies 1 and 5 MHz. This is
to reduce the effect of mass and geometry. ␧= is dielectric
constant and ␧⬙ is dielectric loss factor. Loss tangent is the
ratio of ␧=/␧⬙, Dissipation factor, D ⫽ Tan␦ are also calculated
and substituted in empirical formula of peanuts, pecans and
shelled kernel.
magnetic field produced by induction coil when it was ran in
1 KHz, and the weak magnetic field of moist grain was ⌬C ⫽ C1 ⫺ C2 (10)
measured. The MC is directly proportional to the strength of
magnetic field produced by the grains. ⌬Z ⫽ Z2 ⫺ Z1 (11)
In the paper Mcintosh and Cascada (2008), MC of
agricultural commodities was measured using the transducer
⌬␪ ⫽ ␪2 ⫺ ␪1 (12)
fringing field capacitance sensor. Sensor was placed using
hand-held probes in acrylic cylindrical containers containing,
Kandala (2004), Kandala and Nelson (2007) measured the
wheat and corn. Air oven and vacuum oven are the two
MC using different methods. MC of single peanut pods, nuts,
methods for drying the grains. Latter method is costly and less
grains inshell peanut, bio-fuel materials[wood chips and
convenient compared to first method. The value of MC
related powder], dry cherries, different types of wheat were
obtained by the independent researchers was compared with
measured using same techniques (Kandala, 2004; Kandala
standard air oven values to check the precision. In this paper,
et al., 2007; Kandala and Sundaram, 2010; Kandala and
determination methods of the air oven MC of rough rice were
Butts, 2008; Kandala and Nelson, 2007; Kandala et al.,
done in six different conditions (Bhattacharya and Swamy,
2013a; Kandala and Puppala, 2012a, 2012b; Sellaluri et al.,
1967; Chen, 2003). Heating period and drying period are kept
2012; Sundaram et al., 2010). To find the MC of a peanut,
constant for any standard air oven values. Many associations
initially complex RF impedance method was used. Chari
like Nigerian Institution of Agricultural Engineering (NSAE),
impedance meter is shown in Figure 8, and it was an electronic
American Association of Cereal Chemists (AACC) and
circuit developed by Chari V Kandala to measure the phase
American Society of Agricultural Engineering (ASAE) have
angle and magnitude of impedance at two different
standard air oven values for many grains. Different societies
frequencies (1, 5 MHz).
have different methods or steps to analyze the grain. So the
results are not consistent. Here, six different heating and
drying time were considered and took 105°C for 72 h as base Figure 7 Block diagram to measure MC by electrical spectroscopy
by the author. In this temperature, volatile material and grain system
were not destroyed. He found less deviation for the rice dried
at 105°C for 72 h though, all the six conditions are highly
correlated with the air oven values.
With the help of electrical spectroscopy, the MC of tea
leaves were measured. In the paper Mizukami et al. (2006),
the electrical properties of tea leaves, impedance and
capacitance were found between the frequency range 10 Hz to

74
 Methods for the measurement of moisture contents Sensor Review
Divya Nath K. and Prabhu Ramanathan Volume 37 · Number 1 · 2017 · 71–77

Figure 8 Chari impedance meter Resistance and capacitance are calculated for two different
frequencies, 1 and 5 MHz. The following were also
determined to find the MC:

⌬Z ⫽ Z2 ⫺ Z1, (17)

⌬C ⫽ C1 ⫺ C2, (18)

⌬␪ ⫽ ␪2 ⫺ ␪1 (19)

The obtained values from equations (17), (18) and (19) were
substituted in the empirical equations (20) and (21).

MC peanut ⫽ 9.71 ⫹ 0.56⌬␪ ⫺ 3.72⌬C ⫺ 0.13⌬Z.

(20)

MC corn ⫽ 8.395 ⫺ 0.89⌬␪ ⫹ 1.17⌬C ⫺ 0.9⌬Z. (21)

The values obtained from the equation (20) and (21) were
compared with standard air oven values. The same
experiment of measuring the total oil content in peanuts was
Downloaded by Fudan University At 04:05 19 March 2017 (PT)

made in Kandala et al. (2013b). However, three different

From the observed values er1, em1 and ep1, impedance Z and
phase shift ␪ is calculated. Z ⫽ (er1/em1) R and phase shift ␪
is proportional to ep1. ep1 is the output voltage of phase
detector, em1 output voltage from operational amplifier and
er1 is the actual input voltage.
The following parameters were calculated:
X ⫽ Z Sin␪,
R ⫽ Z Cos␪,
D ⫽ R/X ⫽ 1/Tan␪
and X ⫽ 1/2␲fC,
excitation frequencies were used in the experimentation. The
values obtained were substituted in slightly modified empirical
equation. The result obtained from empirical equation was
compared with Soxhlet result and found efficient.
3. Conclusion
Owing to many reasons, the climatic conditions world over are
becoming unpredictable. Farmers are facing many challenges
during the cultivation of food grains. Hence, it is imperative
that the food products have to be stored in such a way so as to
guarantee food security. One of the important factors affecting
(13) the quality food grains is MC. Over the past few decades,
many indirect and non-destructive techniques for analyzing
(14) MC have been developed by considering electrical or
magnetic properties of food grains; still there are many issues
which are unsolved. The techniques so far developed to
(15) calculate MC were complex and time-consuming, and also
these methods used only few grams of food items. The cost of
(16) implementation was also too high which is not affordable by

Table I Review of non-destructive technique of different authors

Author Frequency Technique/Name Samples Advantage
Nelson – Electrical resistance moisture meter Soil and wheat Low cost
Briggs, Jishun, Nelson. – Grain moisture meter Rice and barley Non-destructive
Kim 10.5 GHz Differential frequency technique Rough rice, brown rice, barley and Non-destructive
short grain rough rice
Trabelsi and Nelson 5.8 GHz Free space transmission Peanut pods Non-destructive
Tripathi, Gupta, and Shukla 200 Hz to 2 KHz Double capacitor cell with immersion Twelve grains like rice, soybean, Non-destructive
method wheat, linseed, paddy, mustard
Yaqui and Wenfu – Virtual instruments technology – Non-destructive
Mizukami 10 Hz to 1 MHz Electrical spectroscopy Tea leaves Non-destructive
Mcintosh and Cascada – Transducer fringing field capacitance sensor Wheat and corn Non-destructive
Tsukada and Kiwa – Magnetic strength Few quantity Non-destructive
Kandala 1 MHz to 5GHz Complex RF impedance method In-shells peanuts and pecans Non-destructive
Kandala 1 MHz and 5 Chari impedance meter 30 peanuts Non-destructive
MHz

75
 Methods for the measurement of moisture contents
Divya Nath K. and Prabhu Ramanathan
the small farmers. The techniques and the advantage of
different authors are tabulated in Table I.
Better enhancement techniques which could help the
farmers have to be developed using Capacitance/electrical
method of MC measurement. The present issues in the
measurement of MC can be solved to some extent if the new
technique developed can be made available at less cost and
could be used to measure MC of all food items at large
quantity at a time (Kandala et al., 2013b).
References
Alwis, L., Sun, T. and Grattan, K.T.V. (2013), “Optical fibre-
based sensor technology for humidity and moisture
measurement: review of recent progress”, Measurement,
Vol. 46 No. 10, pp. 4052-4074.
Baxter, L.K. (1997), “Capacitive sensors”, Capsense, available
at: www.capsense.com/capsense-wp.pdf (accessed 2 August
2016).
Bhattacharya, K.R. and Swamy, Y.M.I. (1967), “Conditions
of drying parboiled paddy for optimum milling quality”,
Downloaded by Fudan University At 04:05 19 March 2017 (PT)
IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation,
Vol. 44 No. 5, pp. 592-600.
Briggs, L.J. (1908a), “An electrical resistance method for the
rapid determination of the moisture content of grain”, Circular
No. 20, United States: Bureau of Plant Industry, available at:
https://archive.org/details/electrst00unit (accessed 4 August
2016).
Briggs, L.J. (1908b), “An electrical resistance method for the
rapid determination of the moisture content of grain”,
Science, Vol. 28 No. 727, pp. 810-813.
Cai, T., Wang, G., Cao, Z., Zhang, W. and Gao, X. (2014),
“Sensor for headspace pressure and H2O concentration
measurements in closed vials by tunable diode laser
absorption spectroscopy”, Optics and Lasers in Engineering,
Vol. 58, pp. 48-53.
Chen, C. (2003), “Evaluation of air oven moisture content
determination methods for rough rice”, Biosystems
Engineering, Vol. 86 No. 4, pp. 447-457.
Jiang, J. and Ji, H. (2009), “Modeling of moisture test for grain
based on BP neural network and dielectric loss factor”,
Computational Intelligence and Design (ISCID’09), 2nd
International Symposium, Changsha, 12-14 December,
Vol. 1, pp. 424-428.
Kandala, C.V. (2004), “Moisture determination in single
peanut pods by complex RF impedance measurement”,
IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement,
Vol. 53 No. 6, pp. 1493-1496.
Kandala, C.V. and Butts, C.L. (2008), “Design and
performance of an impedance analyzer for nondestructive
moisture content determination of in-shell peanuts”,
Sensors Applications Symposium (SAS), Atlanta, GA,
12-14 February, pp. 46-50.
Kandala, C.V. and Nelson, S.O. (2007), “RF impedance
method for estimating moisture content in small samples of
in-shell peanuts”, IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and
Measurement, Vol. 56 No. 3, pp. 938-943.
Kandala, C.V. and Puppala, N. (2012a), “Capacitance sensors
for nondestructive moisture determination in grain, nuts and
bio-fuel materials”, Sensing Technology (ICST), 6th
International Conference, Kolkata, 18-21 December, pp. 42-45.
76
Sensor Review
Volume 37 · Number 1 · 2017 · 71–77
Kandala, C.V. and Puppala, N. (2012b), “Parallel plate
capacitance sensors for nondestructive moisture content of
different types of wheat”, Sensors Applications Symposium
(SAS), Brescia, 7-9 February, pp. 1-5.
Kandala, C.V. and Sundaram, J. (2010), “Nondestructive
measurement of moisture content using a parallel plate
capacitance sensor for nuts and grain”, IEEE Sensors
Journal, Vol. 10 No. 7, pp. 1282-1287.
Kandala, C.V., Butts, C.L. and Nelson, S.O. (2007),
“Capacitance sensor for non-destructive measurement of
moisture content in nuts and grain”, IEEE Transactions on
Instrumentation and Measurement, Vol. 56 No. 5,
pp. 1809-1813.
Kandala, C.V., Rachaputi, R.C.N. and Connor, D.O.
(2013b), “Capacitance sensor for nondestructive
determination of total oil content in peanut kernels”,
Journal of Sensor Technology, Vol. 3, pp. 42-46.
Kandala, C.V., Avula, R., Settaluri, V., Reddy, R.S. and
Puppala, N. (2013a), “Sensing the moisture content of dry
cherries – a rapid and nondestructive method”, Food and
Nutrition Sciences, Vol. 4 No. 9B, pp. 38-42.
Kim, K.B., Kim, J.H., Lee, S.S. and Noh, S.H. (2002),
“Measurement of grain moisture content using microwave
attenuation at 10.5GHz and moisture density”, IEEE
Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, Vol. 51
No. 1, pp. 72-77.
Lawrence, K.C., Nelson, S.O. and Kraszewski, A.W. (1990),
“Temperature dependence of the dielectric properties of
wheat”, Transaction of the American Society of Agricultural
and Biological Engineers, Vol. 33 No. 2, pp. 535-540.
Loewer, O.J., Bridges, T.C. and Bucklin, R.A. (1994),
On-Farm Drying and Storage Systems, American Society of
Agricultural Engineers, Publication 9, St. Joseph, MI.
Mcintosh, R.B. and Cascada, M.E. (2008), “Fringing field
capacitance sensor for measuring the moisture content of
agricultural commodities”, IEEE Sensors Journal, Vol. 8
No. 3, pp. 240-247.
Mizukami, Y., Sawai, Y. and Yamaguchi, Y. (2006),
“Moisture content measurement of tea leaves by electrical
impedance and capacitance”, Biosystems Engineering,
Vol. 93 No. 3, pp. 293-299.
Nelson, S.O. (1977), “Use of electrical properties for grain
moisture measurement”, Journal of Microwave Power,
Vol. 12 No. 1, pp. 67-72.
Nelson, S.O. (1991), “Dielectric properties of agricultural
products – measurements and applications”, IEEE
Transactions on Electrical Insulation, Vol. 26 No. 5,
pp. 845-869.
Nelson, S.O. (1992), “Measurement and applications of
dielectric properties of agricultural products”, IEEE
Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, Vol. 41
No. 1, pp. 116-112.
Nelson, S.O. (2006), “Agricultural applications of dielectric
measurements”, IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and
Electrical Insulation, Vol. 13 No. 4, pp. 688-702.
Nelson, S.O. and Bartley, P.G. (2002), “Measuring
frequency- and temperature – dependent permittivity of
food materials”, IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and
Measurement, Vol. 51 No. 4, pp. 589-592.
 Methods for the measurement of moisture contents
Divya Nath K. and Prabhu Ramanathan
Nelson, S.O. and Trabelsi, S. (2010a), “Measurement of
grain and seed moisture and density through permittivity
relationships”, Instrumentation and Measurement Technology
Conference (I2MTC), IEEE, Austin, TX, Athens, GA,
3-6 May, pp. 964-969.
Nelson, S.O. and Trabelsi, S. (2010b), “Measurement of grain
and seed microwave permittivity for moisture and density
determination”, Proceedings of IEEE SoutheastCon,
Concord, NC, 18-21 March, pp. 463-466.
Nelson, S.O. and Trabelsi, D. (2011a), “Sensing grain and seed
moisture and density from dielectric properties”, International
Journal of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Vol. 4 No. 1,
pp. 75-81.
Nelson, S.O. and Trabelsi, S. (2011b), “Use of grain and seed
dielectric properties for moisture measurement”, Proceedings
of IEEE SoutheastCon, Nashville, TN, 17-20 March,
pp. 201-205.
Nelson, S., Lawrence, K. and Kandala, C. (1992), “Sensing
Moisture in peanut and pecan kernels by RF impedance
measurements”, Journal of Microwave Power and
Downloaded by Fudan University At 04:05 19 March 2017 (PT)
Electromagnetic Energy, Vol. 27 No. 3, pp. 171-174.
Nelson, S.O., Kraszewski, A.W., Trabelsi, S. and
Lawrence, K.C. (2000), “Using cereal grain permittivity for
sensing moisture content”, IEEE Transactions on
Instrumentation and Measurement, Vol. 49 No. 3, pp. 470-475.
Nigmatullin, R.R., Osokin, S.I. and Nelson, S.O. (2008),
“Application of fractional-moments statistics to data for
two- phase dielectric mixtures”, Transactions on Dielectrics
and Electrical Insulation, Vol. 15 No. 5, pp. 1385-1392.
Sellaluri, V.S., Kandala, C.V.K., Puppala, N. and
Sundaram, J. (2012), “Peanuts and their nutritional
aspects – a review”, Food and Nutrition Sciences, Vol. 3
No. 12, pp. 1644-1650.
Sundaram, J., Kandala, C.V., Holser, R.A., Butts, C.L. and
Windham, W.R. and (2010), “Determination of in-shell
peanut oil and fatty acid composition using near in-frared
reflectance spectroscopy”, Journal of the American Oil
Chemists’ Society, Vol. 87 No. 10, pp. 1103-1114.
Trabelsi, S. and Nelson, S.O. (2010), “Microwave moisture
meter for granular and particulate materials”, Instrumentation
For instructions on how to order reprints of this article, please visit our website:
www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/licensing/reprints.htm
Or contact us for further details: permissions@emeraldinsight.com
77
Sensor Review
Volume 37 · Number 1 · 2017 · 71–77
and Measurement Technology Conference (I2MTC), IEEE,
Austin TX, GA, 3-6 May, pp. 1304-1308.
Tripathi, R.K., Gupta, M. and Shukla, J.P. (1996),
“Capacitance technique for measuring moisture content using
dielectric data – an immersion method”, 12th International
Conference on Conduction and Breakdown in Dielectric Liquids
(ICDL’96), Roma, 15-19 July, pp. 440-441.
Tsukada, K. and Kiwa, T. (2007), “Magnetic measurement of
moisture content of grain”, IEEE Transactions on Magnetics,
Vol. 43 No. 6, pp. 2683-2685.
Will, B. and Rolfes, I. (2013), “Comparative study of
moisture measurements by time domain transmissometry”,
IEEE Sensors Conference, Baltimore, MD, 3-6 November,
pp. 1-4.
Xu, H., Huang, H., Yang, R. and Xin, Y. (2004), “Application
of data fusion technology in quick measurement of grain
moisture”, Intelligent Control and Automation (WCICA
2004), Fifth World Congress, Hangzhou, 15-19 June, Vol. 4,
pp. 3138-3140.
Yaqui, Z., Wenfu, W., Junxing, L. and Guanghua, W. (2011),
“Research of intelligent grain moisture content measuring
system based on virtual instruments technology”, International
Conference on Measuring Technology and Mechatronics
Automation, Shangshai, 6-7 January, pp. 1077-1080.
Yu, Z., Zhang, Y., Lian, F. and Fu, M. (2010), “A research of
stored grain moisture detection based on RIS-K2 radar
electromagnetic wave technology”, International Conference on
Educational and Information Technology (ICEIT), Chongqing,
17-19 September, pp. v3-265-v3-267.
Further reading
Nelson, S.O., Kraszewski, A.W., Trabelsi, S. and Lawrence, K.C.
(1999), “Using cereal grain permittivity for quality sensing by
moisture determination”, Instrumentation and Measurement
Technology Conference (IMTC99), 16th IEEE, Venice, 24-26
May, Vol. 1, pp. 237-242.
Corresponding author
Prabhu Ramanathan can be contacted at: ishupa@gmail.
com