Microwave Nondestructive Sensing of Moisture Content and Water Activity of Almonds

2021 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 1373-1379
Author(s):  
Samir Trabelsi

HighlightsMoisture and water activity were determined nondestructively and in real time from measurement of dielectric properties.Moisture and water activity calibration equations were established in terms of the dielectric properties.Situations in which bulk density was known or unknown were considered.SEC ranged from 0.41% to 0.68% for moisture and from 0.02 to 0.04 for water activity.Abstract. A method for rapid and nondestructive determination of moisture content and water activity of granular and particulate materials was developed. The method relies on measurement of the dielectric constant and dielectric loss factor at a single microwave frequency. For the purpose of illustration, the method was applied to predicting the moisture content and water activity of almond kernels. A free-space transmission technique was used for accurate measurement of the dielectric properties. Samples of Bute Padre almond kernels with moisture content ranging from 4.8% to 16.5%, wet basis (w.b.), and water activity ranging from 0.50 to 0.93 were loaded into a Styrofoam sample holder and placed between two horn-lens antennas connected to a vector network analyzer. The dielectric properties were calculated from measurement of the attenuation and phase shift at 8 GHz and 25°C. The dielectric properties increased linearly with moisture content, while they showed an exponential increase with water activity. Situations in which the bulk density was known and unknown were considered. Linear and exponential growth regressions provided equations correlating the dielectric properties with moisture content and water activity with coefficients of determination (r2) higher than 0.96. Analytical expressions of moisture content and water activity in terms of the dielectric properties measured at 8 GHz and 25°C are provided. The standard error of calibration (SEC) was calculated for each calibration equation. Results show that moisture content can be predicted with SECs ranging from 0.41% to 0.68% (w.b.) and water activity with SECs ranging from 0.02 to 0.04 for almond kernel samples with water activity ranging from 0.5 to 0.9 and moisture contents ranging from 4.8% to 16.5% (w.b.). Keywords: Bulk density, Dielectric constant, Dielectric loss factor, Free-space measurements, Loss tangent, Microwave frequencies, Moisture content, Water activity.

2013 ◽  
Vol 634-638 ◽  
pp. 2570-2578 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wen Hua Zi ◽  
Xiao Long Zhang ◽  
Lan Wang ◽  
Jin Hui Peng ◽  
Lin Chen

An Agilent E4980A precision the LCR meter was used to estimate the effect of frequency, moisture content, position, location and variety on dielectric properties for biomass material of tobacco stems at microwave frequency of 2MHz. The dielectric properties of tobacco stems were significantly affected by frequency and moisture content. Both dielectric constant and dielectric loss factor rapidly declined first and then slowed with increasing frequency at lower moisture content. Increasing the moisture content, dielectric constant increased with the increasing frequency by orders of magnitude, while dielectric loss factor increased first and then decreased with dielectric relaxation emerging, where the dipolar relaxation frequency and the max of the dielectric loss factor also increased. Dielectric properties of the biomass material of tobacco stem were also affected by position, location and variety to some degree. The dielectric properties variation of K326 and Yun 87 was similar to each other which reflected their same genetic characteristics. At the frequency of 2MHz, dielectric constant and dielectric loss factor were mainly at 50-100 and 0.005-0.020, respectively.


Author(s):  
Guangjun He ◽  
Shiwei Li ◽  
Kun Yang ◽  
Jian Liu ◽  
Peng Liu ◽  
...  

Microwave technology has a potential application in the extraction of zinc from sulphide ores, knowledge of the dielectric properties of these ores plays a major role in the microwave design and simulation for any process. The dielectric properties of zinc sulfide concentrate for two different apparent densities—1.54 and 1.63 g/cm3—have been measured by using the resonance cavity perturbation technique at 915 and 2450 MHz during the roasting process for the temperature ranging from room temperature to 850 °C. The variations of dielectric constant, the dielectric loss factor, the dielectric loss tangent and the penetration depth with the temperature, frequency and apparent density have been investigated numerically. The results indicate that the dielectric constant increases as the temperature increases and temperature has a pivotal effect on the dielectric constant, while the dielectric loss factor has a complicated change and all of the temperature, frequency and apparent density have a significant impact to dielectric loss factor. Zinc sulfide concentrate is high loss material from 450 to 800 °C on the basis of theoretical analyses of dielectric loss tangent and penetration depth, its ability of absorbing microwave energy would be enhanced by increasing the apparent density as well. The experimental results also have proved that zinc sulfide concentrate is easy to be heated by microwave energy from 450 to 800 °C. In addition, the experimental date of dielectric constant and loss factor can be fitted perfectly by Boltzmann model and Gauss model, respectively.


1996 ◽  
Vol 10 (23n24) ◽  
pp. 2849-2855 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akiko KAWAI ◽  
Kunio UCHIDA ◽  
Kunio KAMIYA ◽  
Akihiro GOTOH ◽  
Satoshi YODA ◽  
...  

The effect of the dielectric property was investigated of titania and microcrystalline cellulose particles dispersed in a silicon oil on Electrorheology(ER). A commom understanding of the mechanism of ER is the electrical interaction by the interfacial polarization of dispersed particles. Block et al. reported the relaxation frequency of ER fluids, i. e. the rate of polarization, was very important to have an appreciable ER effect. We found that the free water on the cellulose and the titania particles dispersed in the silicon oil, which is respectively dehydrated below the temperature of ca. 110 and 300 degree centigrade, was necessary for an appreciable ER effect. The relation was measured between the water content and the dielectric properties such as dielectric constant ε ’ and dielectric loss factor ε ", as the water adsorbed on the particles was estimated to alter the dielectric properties of the ER fluid. Both the dielectric constant and the relaxation frequency, which is defined by the applied frequency for a peak of the dielectric loss factor, increased with the increase of the water content The relation was discussed between the ER effect and the dielectric properties.


2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 108-112
Author(s):  
Sándor Beszédes ◽  
Katalin Papp-Sziládi ◽  
Gábor Keszthelyi-Szabó ◽  
Cecília Hodúr

Pre-treatments applied before biological sludge utilization technologies aim to modify the sludge structure for enhanced disintegration degree and biodegradability. Among the thermal pre-treatments methods, microwave irradiation is suitable to degrade the polymeric structure of sludge, and to increase the solubility of organic matters. Energetic efficiency of microwave heating is mainly determined by the dielectric properties, such as dielectric constant and dielectric loss factor. Dielectric properties are influenced by the frequency, temperature; composition and consistency of irradiated material, state and bond of water etc. Therefore, physicochemical changes of sludge structure; e.g. hydrolysis of macromolecules, degradation of cell wall of microorganisms, aggregation of particles; contribute to the change of dielectric parameters, as well. In our work we investigated the correlation between the dielectric parameters and structural change and biodegradability indicators. In the case of municipal wastewater, the change of organic matter removal efficiency during wastewater purification technology at a wastewater treatment plant can be detected by the change of dielectric constant. Results related to sludge processing show, that change of organic matter solubility and aerobic biodegradability correlate the change of dielectric loss factor and dielectric constant. With the degradation of polymeric structure of sludge matrix and decomposition of macromolecules caused by thermal effects or chemical pre-treatments led to increased mobility of ions and enhanced polarization of molecules. These effects led to increased dielectric constant and loss factor, what make possible to pre-indicate the efficiency of sludge pre-treatment processes by an in line and real time measurement method.


Author(s):  
Caciano P. Z. Noreña ◽  
Carlos E. Lescano-Anadón

Abstract The knowledge of electrical properties and their relationship with moisture content is of great importance in operations of post-harvest and storage in grains. The dielectric properties of sorghum samples were studied at different moisture contents and temperatures (25 at 41 °C), at frequencies of 1 and 10 kHz. In order to measure changes in the capacitance and dissipation factor of the samples, the method of impedance bridge was used. Both the dielectric constant and the dielectric loss factor of the samples increased with increasing moisture content and temperature; however, they decreased with increasing frequency. Models were proposed to relate the dielectric properties to either the moisture (exponential and polynomial) or temperature (linear).


2019 ◽  
Vol 78 ◽  
pp. 02012
Author(s):  
Runeng Zhong ◽  
Tai Xiang ◽  
Qinhong Zheng ◽  
Bo Xu

Dielectric properties play an important role in the microwave-assisted application of nonmagnetic agriculture-related media. In this paper, the practical requirements for the lack of quantitative data on the dielectric properties of agricultural media in microwave-assisted applications are obtained. The dielectric properties data of four kinds of agricultural by-products powder (Potato powder, Pseudo -ginseng Powder, Gastrodia elata powder, Dendrobium chrysotoxum Lindl powder) under microwave frequency were measured, and related factors were analyzed. The results show that the uncalibrated coaxial transmission reflection method can be used to measure and analyse the dielectric properties of high frequency bands of powder materials. Dielectric constant (ε ′) and Dielectric loss factor (ε '') of agricultural by-products at room temperature have a relationship between microwave frequency and moisture content. It is a dependent and the mathematical relation is satisfied. The influence of microwave frequency and moisture content on the dielectric properties is as follows: lows: ε′>ε′′>tanδ. Under the conditions of civil microwave frequency (2.45GHz) and moisture content (2% ~ 25%), the dielectric constant and the dielectric loss factor of different kinds of agricultural by-products powder are in the range of 3.5 ~ 9 and 0.1 ~ 3.2 respectively. The results provide data basis for microwave processing and quality monitoring of agricultural by-products powder. The technical method is suitable for the measurement and analysis of the dielectric properties of powder materials.


Author(s):  
Guangjun He ◽  
Shiwei Li ◽  
Kun Yang ◽  
Jian Liu ◽  
Peng Liu ◽  
...  

Microwave technology has a potential application in the extraction of zinc from sulphide ores, knowledge of the dielectric properties of these ores plays a major role in the microwave design and simulation for any process. The dielectric properties of zinc sulfide concentrate for two different apparent densities—1.54 and 1.63 g/cm3—have been measured by using the resonance cavity perturbation technique at 915 and 2450 MHz during the roasting process for the temperature ranging from room temperature to 850 °C. The variations of dielectric constant, the dielectric loss factor, the dielectric loss tangent and the penetration depth with the temperature, frequency and apparent density have been investigated numerically. The results indicate that the dielectric constant increases as the temperature increases and temperature has a pivotal effect on the dielectric constant, while the dielectric loss factor has a complicated change and all of the temperature, frequency and apparent density have a significant impact to dielectric loss factor. Zinc sulfide concentrate is high loss material from 450 to 800 °C on the basis of theoretical analyses of dielectric loss tangent and penetration depth, its ability of absorbing microwave energy would be enhanced by increasing the apparent density as well. The experimental results also have proved that zinc sulfide concentrate is easy to be heated by microwave energy from 450 to 800 °C. In addition, the experimental date of dielectric constant and loss factor can be fitted perfectly by Boltzmann model and Gauss model, respectively.


Frequenz ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Soumya Sundar Pattanayak ◽  
Soumen Biswas

Abstract The quality of agricultural products can be remotely sensed and enhanced by determining the dielectric properties. This paper studies the dielectric properties of banana leaf and banana peel over the frequency range 1–20 GHz using the open-ended coaxial probe (OCP) method. A new curve fitting model is proposed to characterize the dielectric properties of banana leaf and banana peel. The different moisture content (MC) levels are considered for both banana leaf and banana peel samples and, their dielectric properties are characterized. Further, the banana leaf and banana peel’s measurement data are compared with the data obtained using the proposed model. In addition, Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) and R-squared (R 2) are calculated to validate the performance of the proposed model. In case of banana leaf at 68.26% MC, the dielectric constant achieves the value of R 2 and RMSE of 0.98 and 0.0648, respectively. Similarly, dielectric loss achieves the value of R 2 and RMSE of 0.88 and 0.0795, respectively. Further, for banana peel at 80.89% MC, the dielectric constant achieves the value of R 2 and RMSE of 0.99 and 0.2989, respectively. Similarly, dielectric loss achieves the value of R 2 and RMSE of 0.96 and 0.6132, respectively.


2017 ◽  
Vol 63 (Special Issue) ◽  
pp. S18-S23
Author(s):  
Lev Jakub ◽  
Kumhála František

  Continuous detection of basic physical properties of freshly picked and cleaned wet hop cones would be very helpful for better control and automation of harvesting processes. That is why the main aim of this article was to determine the effects of bulk density changes on dielectric properties of freshly picked hop cones. Relative permittivity and loss factor were measured using a newly developed capacitance measuring device. A strong linear correlation between fresh hops relative permittivity and bulk density was found. This finding could be used e.g. for consequent hop drying process control. Significant differences between tested hop varieties were observed for both relative permittivity and loss factor measurements. These differences cannot be explained only by a slightly different moisture content of the measured varieties and ambient temperature changes. Measured material loss factor was only slightly affected by bulk density changes. However, relative permittivity was affected by bulk density changes significantly. These facts could be used for other properties of wet hop cones estimation.  


Author(s):  
Vishal Singh Chandel ◽  
Atiq UR Rahmanm ◽  
J. P. Shukla ◽  
Rajiv Manohar ◽  
Mohd. Shafi Khan

Effect of fungicides' (thiram, captan, carbendazim, bagalol) treatment on dielectric constant and dielectric loss of a vegetable seed, namely the brinjal at given moisture content and bulk density was examined using Hewlett-Packard (HP-4194A) impedance/gain phase analyzer over the frequency range of 0.01 to 10 MHz and temperature range of 30-450C. Julabo (temperature controller, F-25, Germany) was used for keeping the temperature of seeds constant. Study showed that fungicide treatment cast considerable change in dielectric parameters namely the dielectric constant and dielectric loss.


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