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High moisture content is a recurrent problem in masonry and can jeopardize durability. Therefore, precise and easy-to-use techniques are welcome both to evaluate the state of conservation and to help in the diagnosis of moisture-related problems. In this research, the humidification and drying process of two wall specimens were assessed by infrared thermography and the results were compared with two traditional techniques: surface moisture meter and the gravimetric method. Two climatic chambers were used to impose different ambience conditions to each specimen, to evaluate the impact of air temperature and relative humidity in the results. The qualitative analysis of the thermal images allowed the identification of the phenomena. The quantitative analysis showed that the order of magnitude of the temperature gradient that translates high humidity levels is substantially different in the two chambers, pointing to the influence of the surrounding environment. The presented analysis contributes to identifying the criteria indicative of moisture-related problems in two different scenarios and discusses the correlation between the non-destructive techniques and the moisture content in the masonry walls. The limitations and future research gaps regarding the use of IRT to assess moisture are also highlighted.

This experiment compared commercially available moisture meters (three capacitive metersand one resistance meter) and tested their predictive ability at different moisture conditions on selected beech (Fagus sylvatica) and spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) wood samples. The measurements were carried out on the samples at specified moisture intervals ranging from 5% to 30% moisture content (MC). The resistance meter showed a close correlation to gravimetric MC values; the influence of the measuring direction for MC below 17% was found when higher MCs in the transverse direction for both species were archieved. The difference was 4.6 times higher for softwood and 1.6 times higher for hardwood. Differences between radial and tangential transverse measuring were not observed. The close correlation coefficient of MC measurements was also found for capacitive methods. The effect of the direction was found for all the tested meters when higher MC values in the longitudinal measurements were found. This effect was especially significant at an MC of wood higher than 20 wt.%. For two capacitive methods, the effect of annual ring deflection only in the spruce samples was found where higher MC values in the tangential direction were observed.

BackgroundThe standard method for grain moisture measurement is the conventional air oven-drying technique. This method requires a longer period of time to determine the moisture content (m.c.). Although electric moisture meters are popular in rice industries, it has to be calibrated frequently with the oven-drying method. Therefore, an alternative but fast and reliable method is required, especially, for the grain marketing industries.ResultsThree different sizes of paddy (Oryza sativa L.) samples (Bg 300-intermediate bold, Bg 358-short round and At 405-long slender) were used for this study. Five different moisture levels (12–20% wet basis) were prepared by adding known amounts of water. Relationship between the microwave oven and hot air oven moisture values were evaluated using Pearson, Spearman and Kendall correlation coefficient methods. The linear regression relationship was also established between hot air oven and microwave oven moisture determination methods. According to the data, except for 870 W of absorbed MW power setting level, the other two MW power setting (265 W and 550 W) showed a significant statistical correlation (r > 0.55, P < 0.01) between the air oven and MW oven m.c. values of the three paddy samples. However, MW settings of 550 W for 7 min of absorbed power indicated a significantly higher regression coefficient of determination (r2 = 0.94, P < 0.01) with air oven m.c. values.ConclusionFrom the study, it can be concluded that the domestic microwave oven can be successfully used to determine the moisture content of different paddy varieties as an alternative method to the conventional air oven-drying method.

A moisture meter for loose materials is proposed that can automatically control the moisture content of a loose material in its continuous flow with high accuracy Keywords: loose materials, moisture meter.

Water is considered the most important natural resource utilized on managed amenity grasslands, and water conservation is an integral part of an overall program in environmental stewardship and best management practices. Measuring and monitoring the soil water content of turfgrass root zones has become an important and routinely accepted practice of golf courses and sports pitches. In recent years, portable hand-held soil moisture meters or sensors have become commercially available and affordable, and therefore have become a valuable and often relied-upon tool for the turfgrass industry practitioner. To maximize or optimize the time and resources needed to measure the root zone volumetric water content of a turf site, a field experiment was conducted to determine the minimum number of soil moisture readings needed per 93 m2 of a sand-based root zone. Of note, 93 m2 is equivalent to 1000 ft2, which is the common form of area measurement utilized by the turfgrass industry in the USA. The standard error of the mean calculated from sampling data revealed that three to four measurements per 93 m2 were the minimum number required. Soil moisture meters should be utilized in a structured, purposeful, and site-specific manner along with traditional soil moisture evaluation methods of diligent scouting for visual signs of turfgrass wilt and drought stress, as well as examining soil root zone cores, to support prudent irrigation water management practices. Knowledge of the soil moisture status will support best practices for water conservation and environmental stewardship while optimizing turfgrass quality, function, and performance.

To inspect the ability of the new testing algorithms of coal-water slurries moisture calculation to retain stability when working with experimental results that have natural random variation. Symmetric variation has been artificially introduced into the values of binary material-water slurry dielectric permittivity, applied in appropriate testing algorithm of moisture calculation. Inspection of the testing algorithm ability to retain the calculated water content values stability have been done for the conditions, when each value of dielectric permittivity that enters the testing algorithm takes maximum or minimum inside the symmetric variation range. Results of such an inspection allowed detecting some negative features of the existing testing algorithms and producing a new testing algorithm with sufficient stability for the calculated moisture values of material-water slurries. When inspecting two testing algorithms for the calculated water content values conditionality, it was detected, in spite of our expectations, that variation of dielectric permittivity values in a rather small range of 0.1 % gives a significant dispersion of calculated moister values. This situation signified low conditionality for both testing algorithms. It caused the authors to generate the modified testing algorithm, able to provide a sufficient stability for the calculated binary coal-water system moisture values according to the results of its comparison with modern analogues with a help of Pyrson's test. Testing algorithms inspection for the calculated moisture values conditionality allowed generating more relevant testing algorithm of moisture calculating in binary systems and, as a result, increasing the accuracy of coal-water slurries moisture measurement. Application of the two additive, two multiplicative and two additional test influences on the substance under consideration in a new testing algorithm allowed increasing moisture measurement accuracy for capacitance moisture meters by several times. It is provided at the expense of small testing algorithm sensitivity to the substance's variation of physicochemical structure and due to the conditionality increase for the calculated values of moisture.

The use of a novel chrono-potentiometry method (abbreviated as “CP”) in the determination of the moisture content in wood (abbreviated as “MC”) above the FSP is a practical application of the electrical charging effect (or ECE). In the specific case of this CP method, the ECE consists of an electrical charging phase for the wood and a discharge phase following the interruption of the charging current. The electrical resistance, R, and the electrical chargeability, Cha(E), of three hardwood species were determined from the final potential, E1, of the charging phase and the initial potential, E2, of the discharge phase, with the three hardwood species being birch (Betula spp.), aspen (Populus spp.), and black alder (Alnus glutinosa (L.) Gaertn). An auxiliary variable in the form of U (E1; E2) was defined as a function of E1 and E2. This was used as an independent electrical variable in the calibration model for a CP moisture meter for the three tree species when it came to the moisture content (MC) region above the FSP (fibre saturation point). It was found that upon a determination of the MC in the wood, the traditional calibration model (the R-model), which uses the electrical resistance of wood, was able to predict a single-measurement precision level of +/−10% for the MC while the U-model predicted a precision level of +/−1.75% for the MC over a single MC measurement in the wood.

The roasting process of Gari (Gelatinized cassava mash), a shelf-stable cassava product, is energy-intensive. Due to a lack of information on thermal characteristics and scarcity/rising energy costs, heat and mass transfer calculations are essential to optimizing the traditional gari procedure. The objective of this study was to determine the proximate, density, and thermal properties of traditionally processed de-watered cassava mash and gari at initial and final processing temperatures and moisture contents (MCwb). The density and thermal properties were determined using proximate composition-based predictive empirical models. The cassava mash had thermal conductivity, density, specific heat capacity, and diffusivity of 0.34 to 0.35 W m[sup.−1] °C[sup.−1], 1207.72 to 1223.09 kg m[sup.−3], 2849.95 to 2883.17 J kg[sup.−1] °C, and 9.62 × 10[sup.−8] to 9.76 × 10[sup.−8] m[sup.2] s[sup.−1], respectively, at fermentation temperatures and MCwb of 34.82 to 35.89 °C and 47.81 to 49%, respectively. The thermal conductivity, density, specific heat capacity and diffusivity of gari, ranged from 0.27 to 0.31 W m[sup.−1] °C[sup.−1], 1490.07 to 1511.11 kg m[sup.−3], 1827.71 to 1882.61 J kg[sup.−1] °C and 9.64 × 10[sup.−8] to 1.15 × 10[sup.−8] m[sup.2] s[sup.−1], respectively. Correlation of all the parameters was achieved, and the regression models developed showed good correlation to the published models developed based on measuring techniques.

A method and instrument for measurements of the moisture content of cereal grains on the basis of a microwave amplitude method are developed. Results of studies of the metrological characteristics of an experimental prototype are presented. Problems for further study focused on reducing the error components of microwave moisture meters are defined.

A dielectric moisture meter is described in which moisture content is determined from the phase shift angle between the increments in the total conductivity of the measurement capacitor of the probe of the moisture meter and its reactive component. These increments are produced by introducing sample material into the capacitor. This kind of moisture meter is shown to be insensitive to the mass of the sample, but is quite sensitive to its moisture content. By comparison with other mass-insensitive moisture meters, this meter has a simpler design and has smaller measurement errors because of a reduced number of measurement and computational operations.