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MOISTURE
CONTENT

ABE131: Properties of AB Materials Prepared by: G.P.Pantuhan

DRYING
• is a process consisting of the removal of
water by evaporation from a solid, semi-
solid or liquid.

METHODS
Direct measurement – water content is
determined by removing moisture and
then by measuring weight loss

Indirect measurement – an intermediate

variable is measured and then converted
into moisture content. Indirect methods are
based on the measurement of a property of
the grain that depends upon moisture
content.

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DIRECT METHODS

1. Single stage

2. Double stage

3. Brown-Duvel Distillation Method

INDIRECT METHODS
1. Electrical Resistance Method

2. Dielectric Method

TYPES OF MC

Wet Basis:

 Wm 
MC wb    x 100%
 m  Wd
W 
where:
W m is the weight of moisture
W d is the weight of bone dry material

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TYPES OF MC
W 
Dry Basis: MC db   m  x 100%
 Wd 
Dry Basis to Wet Basis:
 MC db 
MC wb    x 100%
 MC db  1 
Wet Basis to Dry Basis:
 MC wb 
MC db    x 100%
 1  MC wb 

MOISTURE BALANCE

W1 (1 – MC1) = W2 (1 – MC2)

where:
W1 is the initial weight of wet material =
Wm + Wd
W2 is the final weight of dried product, kg
MC1 and MC2 are initial and final moisture
contents (wet basis), percent

PROB:
After 24 hours of bone-drying, a 110-gram
sample of fresh paddy is reduced to 83.6
grams. Compute the moisture content of
the sample.

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PROB:
If 1,500 kg of paddy rice is to be dried to a
final moisture contents of 14%, what would
be the final weight of the paddy? How
much moisture will be removed? Use initial
moisture content from previous problem.

EQUILIBRIUM MOISTURE
CONTENT
• When a solid is exposed to a continual supply of air
at constant temperature and humidity, having a
fixed partial pressure of the vapor, the solid will
either lose moisture by evaporation or gain moisture
from the air until the vapor pressure of the moisture
content of the solid equals the fixed partial pressure
of the vapor.
• The solid and the gas are then in equilibrium and the
moisture content of the solid in equilibrium with the
surrounding conditions is known as equilibrium
moisture content (EMC).

EQUILIBRIUM MOISTURE
CONTENT
• The EMC is to be determined under
constant relative humidity and temperature
conditions of air.
• Generally, a thermostat is used to control
the temperature and aqueous acid or salt
solutions of different concentrations are
used to control the relative humidity of air.
• EMC is determined by two methods: (1) the
static method and (2) the dynamic method.