IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INSTRUMENTATION AND MEASUREMENT, VOL. 56, NO.

5, OCTOBER 2007

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Capacitance Sensor for Nondestructive Measurement of Moisture Content in Nuts and Grain
Chari V. K. Kandala, Senior Member, IEEE, Chris L. Butts, and Stuart O. Nelson, Life Fellow, IEEE

AbstractThis paper presents a portable electrical instrument that measures the complex impedance of a parallel-plate capacitor with a sample of peanut kernels between its plates. A novel method of measuring the capacitance and phase angle of a parallel-plate system is described. The measured values were used in an empirical equation to estimate the moisture content (mc) of the sample. The estimated values were in good agreement with the mc values that are obtained by a standard airoven method. This method can be used to estimate the mc in other types of nuts and grain by calibrating the instrument with samples of these materials with known mc values. This instrument would be useful in grain industries for quick and nondestructive mc measurement. Index TermsCapacitance, grain, impedance, kernel, nuts, peanut, phase angle, sensor.

I. I NTRODUCTION

EASUREMENT of moisture content (mc)1 is an important aspect in harvesting, storage, marketing, and processing of agricultural products such as corn, wheat, and peanuts. Some of these products, when freshly harvested, may have an mc in the range of 20%40%. For trading, processing, or storage, these moisture levels have to be decreased to a recommended level (up to 13%, 13.5%, and 10.5% for shelled corn, soft red winter wheat, and peanuts, respectively) [1]. Reduction of the mc levels is achieved both by natural and articial drying methods that involve considerable cost. During the drying process, it is necessary to periodically measure the mc of the product to determine when the desired mc level has been achieved and when the drier can be turned off. Drying for a longer time after reaching the required mc level would not only increase the drying cost but also lower the quality of the products. The standard laboratory methods of measuring the mc of grains are tedious and take several hours. Electrical methods have been in use since the beginning of the last century with the discovery of a linear relationship between the logarithm of the electrical resistance of wheat and its mc [2]. Several of the

Manuscript received June 30, 2005; revised March 15, 2007. This paper was presented at the IMTC 2005 Instrumentation and Measurement Technology Conference, Ottawa, ON, Canada, May 1719, 2005. C. V. K. Kandala and C. L. Butts are with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, National Peanut Research Laboratory, Dawson, GA 39842 USA. S. O. Nelson is with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Richard B. Russell Agricultural Research Center, Athens, GA 30604 USA. Color versions of one or more of the gures in this paper are available online at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org. Digital Object Identier 10.1109/TIM.2007.903575
1 Moisture contents are expressed in percent, wet basis, throughout this paper.

mc-measuring instruments that are developed over the years use the high correlation between the mc of the product and its electrical conductivity or dielectric constant [3]. Hutchison and Holaday [4] developed a moisture prole meter for peanut kernels. Single kernels were fed into a crushing roller system, and the signal peaks that resulted from the dc conductance of the kernel, as it passed between the crushing rollers, were measured and correlated to the mc of the kernels. By using this principle, the commercial instrument Shizuoka Seiki CTR-1602 was developed in Japan for single-kernel mc measurement in certain types of grain and peanuts and is currently available in the U.S. With this instrument, measurements are made on one kernel at a time. The method is slow and destructive. This instrument is more useful in obtaining information on the distribution of mcs within samples than for routine moisture measurements in industries. Instruments that are currently in use in grain and peanut industries are mostly the dielectric type. This method is nondestructive, but the sample size for these is large (several hundred grams), and the measured mc value is the average mc of all the kernels in the bulk sample. Furthermore, when large samples are used for measurements, the average value may look acceptable, but there could be some high-moisture kernels blended in the sample that go undetected. Pockets of high-moisture kernels can be conducive to the growth of microorganisms which may lead to spoilage of the entire lot. Thus, it may be useful to measure the mc in smaller samples to check moisture variations in the lots instead of using bulk samples. Measurements of capacitance, dissipation factor, and/or phase angle of a parallel-plate capacitor with a few grain kernels between the plates have shown a promise for nondestructively and rapidly measuring the mc of single or small samples of corn, wheat, or peanut kernels [5]. The method was also found to be useful for the measurement of mc in single in-shell peanuts [6]. Development of a practical instrument to measure the mc of single corn kernels by using this principle was reported earlier [7]. In this paper, a portable electrical instrument that measures the complex impedance of a parallel-plate system to obtain the mc of small samples of peanut kernels is described. The measured mc values (in the range of 5%20%) were compared with the mc values that are obtained by the standard airoven method. This method can also be used in mc measurements of grains such as corn and wheat.

2 Mention of company or trade names is for the purpose of description only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

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angle are related as = tan1 (1/D). (5)

Fig. 1. Moisture dependence of the dielectric constant of shelled yellow-dent eld corn at indicated frequencies [8].

As inferred from (3), although (C1 C2 ) was a good estimator of the mc in the case of regularly shaped objects, by using this term alone, good estimates of the mc of single peanut kernels could not be obtained. From the curves shown in Fig. 1, a linear dependence on (C1 C2 ) could not be seen at higher moisture levels, and to compensate for this, a secondorder term in (C1 C2 ) was included along with it in the predictive equation. To account for the variations in the shapes of the kernels, a correction factor was developed that consists of the differences in the values of and D at two frequencies. Combining the values of C, , and D at the two frequencies, a predictive equation was generated from which the mc of the peanut kernel was calculated [10]. B. Circuit Description An electronic circuit that measures the two required parameters, which are the impedance and the phase angle at 1 and 5 MHz, of a parallel-plate electrode system is described next. Incorporating this circuit, a prototype instrument was built, and an attempt was made to calibrate it to estimate the mc of small samples of peanuts placed between the electrodes. The two frequencies at 1 and 5 MHz are generated by two crystal oscillators, as shown in the block diagram (Fig. 2). These signals are applied to the parallel-plate electrode system alternately by switching through a multiplexer. Initially, at 1.0 MHz, the current owing through this system with an impedance Z is fed into an op-amp. The same current would ow through the feed-back resistor Rr . The output voltage of the op-amp and the original 1-MHz signal from the oscillator are rectied and measured as em1 and er1 , respectively. The current through Z is calculated as em1 /Rr , and the magnitude of the impedance of the parallel-plate system with peanut kernels between them is obtained as |Z1 | = Rr (er1 /em1 ). The phase angle at 1 MHz is determined by comparing the signal emerging from the op-amp with that of the original signal using a phase detector. However, the phase detector can compare signals of the same amplitude only. To keep the amplitude of the output signal from the op-amp constant and equal to the amplitude of the original signal, a comparator is used. The comparator outputs a square wave, and a lter is used to convert it to a sine wave. The original signal from the oscillator is attenuated to the same amplitude as this signal, and the two signals are fed into the phase detector. The phase detector compares the two signals and gives an output voltage ep1 that is proportional to the phase angle 1 between the two. The computer then switches the multiplexer to allow a 5.0-MHz signal to pass through the parallel-plate system. The signals are processed through a circuit that is similar to the 1-MHz circuit, but with a range resistor of different value. The impedance magnitude |Z2 | and the phase angle 2 are determined at this frequency as was done for 1 MHz. From the values of Z and , the real and imaginary parts of the impedance R and X at each frequency are calculated as R = |Z| cos and X = |Z| sin . The values of capacitance

II. M ATERIAL AND M ETHODS A. Basic Principles The variation of the dielectric constant with the mc of shelled yellow-dent eld corn at different frequencies from 1 MHz to 11 GHz was investigated earlier [8] (Fig. 1). The increase in the dielectric constant with mc was more pronounced at the lower frequencies of 1 and 5 MHz. It was found earlier that the variation of the dielectric constant at these frequencies was a useful parameter in estimating the mc of single corn kernels [9]. Similar variation in the dielectric constant with frequency was assumed for peanuts that are both shelled [10] and in-shell [6], and these variations were used to estimate their mc. The capacitance of a parallel-plate capacitor with plate area A and plate separation d, which is lled with a dielectric material, at a frequency f1 is given by C1 = r1 0 A/d and, at a frequency f2 , the capacitance is given by C2 = r2 0 A/d (2) (1)

where r1 and r2 are the dielectric constants of the material between the plates at the two frequencies, and 0 is the permittivity of free space (8.854 1012 F/m). By using these two equations, we can write the difference in the dielectric constants as r1 r2 = (C1 C2 )d/(0 A). (3)

It was earlier found that (C1 C2 ) was a good estimate of the mc, but it was highly inuenced by the size and shape of the kernels [11]. Two other electrical parameters, which are the dissipation factor D and phase angle , were also measured at the two frequencies. The dissipation factor D that is based on a parallel equivalent RC circuit is the tangent of the loss angle [12] and can be written as D = tan = 1/(CR). (4)

The angular frequency is 2 times the frequency f , at which C and R are measured. The dissipation factor and phase

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Fig. 2.

Block diagram of the electronic circuit to measure the magnitude and phase angle at 1 and 5 MHz.

having nominal bulk mc values of 6%, 8%, 10%, 12%, 14%, 16%, 18%, and 20%. Two groups were made out of these eight lots: the rst group, which is called the calibration group, consisted of four sublots with nominal bulk mc values of 6%, 10%, 14%, and 20%, and the second group, which is called the validation group, consisted of four sublots with nominal bulk mc values of 8%, 12%, 16%, and 18%. D. Procedures A sample of peanuts (veseven kernels) from the nominal 6% mc calibration group was rst weighed with an electronic balance, and its wet weight was recorded. Then, this sample was placed between the parallel plates (Fig. 3) of a specially constructed electrode assembly [10], and the capacitance and phase angle of the sample were measured. The electrodes are circular, which are made of brass and of 50-mm diameter. This procedure was repeated for the other 29 samples in the 6% moisture group and for the remaining three moisture levels in the calibration and four moisture levels in the validation group. After the completion of these measurements on the 240 samples (30 each from the four calibration and four validation sublots), each sample was dried in a hot-air oven for 6 h at 130 C, and their dry weights were recorded. The mc of each sample on a wet-weight basis was determined using the following equation: mc = (wet weight dry weight)/wet weight. (6)

Fig. 3. RF impedance meter with parallel-plate electrodes holding peanut kernels.

C and dissipation factor D of the parallel-plate system with the kernels between them are given as C = 1/2f X and D = R/X = 1/ tan . The power supply consists of two 12-V rechargeable leadacid batteries from which the voltages, which are required to operate the circuits, were derived. A Fujitsu P Series Life Book computer S6210 Model (Fig. 3) was used to register data from the system, to compute the calibration constants, and to calculate the mc. C. Peanut Samples From the Runner variety of peanuts grown in Georgia and harvested in the year 2003, eight sample lots were generated,

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From the phase-angle value, the dissipation factor for each sample was computed. By using the differences in the capacitance, phase angle, and dissipation factor values at the two frequencies, an empirical equation was developed. This equation had the following form: M = A0 + A1 C + A2 (C)2 + A3 + A4 ()(C) + A5 [/(C + D)] (7)

TABLE I COMPARISON OF MC VALUES OF PEANUT KERNELS DETERMINED BY RF IMPEDANCE AND OVEN METHODS FOR THE CALIBRATION GROUP

where M is the mc of a peanut sample, and C, , and D are the differences in the values of the capacitance, phase angle, and dissipation factor at 1- and 5-MHz frequencies. A0 , . . . , A5 are the calibration constants. Capacitance is a function of the dielectric constant of the material between the plates; C increases as the mc of the material increases and is prominent in (7). The last three terms also have physical signicance in relation to the series-equivalent circuit and the measured impedance of the samples at different moisture levels [10]. By using the difference in the values of C, , and D at the two frequencies, the contributions to these values by the irregular free space around the samples could be eliminated. The variables in (7) were identied as statistically signicant and useful in mc estimations. From the measured capacitance, phase angle, and the airoven mc values that are calculated by using (6) for the four calibration lots, the values of the constants A0 , A1 , A2 , A3 , A4 , and A5 in (7), which are obtained by multiple regression analysis, are A0 = 9.861 A3 = 1.011 A1 = 199.805 A4 = 23.140 A2 = 1615.239 A5 = 0.002.

TABLE II COMPARISON OF MC VALUES OF PEANUT KERNELS DETERMINED BY RF IMPEDANCE AND OVEN METHODS FOR THE VALIDATION GROUP

The measured values of C and at the two frequencies for the 30 samples in each of the calibration and validation group were then used in (7) along with the above values of the constants, and the mc values were calculated for each sample. These are the predicted kernel mcs by the impedance method, and they were compared with the oven moisture values to examine the performance of (7). III. R ESULTS The airoven mc values and the mc values obtained by using (7) for the four groups in the calibration lot (average of 30 samples in each group), along with the standard deviations, are shown in Table I. The coefcient of determination was 0.94. The averages of the impedance meter values for 30 kernels in each moisture group were close to the oven values, and the standard error of calibration3 was one. Similarly, the airoven mc values and the mc values obtained by using (7) for the ve groups in the validation lot (average of 30 samples in each group) are shown in Table II. The differences in these two values at each moisture level and the standard deviations at each level are also shown. The difference
= ((1/n p 1) i=1 e2 )(1/2) , where n is the number of obseri vations, p is the number of variables in the regression equation with which the calibration is performed, and ei is the difference between the observed and reference values for the ith observation.
3 SEC n

Fig. 4. Comparison of MC values as determined by the airoven and impedance methods (average of 30 peanut kernels).

in the average values of 30 kernels was less than 1%, and the standard error of performance4 was 0.63. A bar graph comparing the mc values that are determined by the oven and impedance methods at the four moisture levels in the validation group is shown in Fig. 4. The oven-measured values compared well with the impedance meter values at 8% and 12% moisture levels, and the difference in average values at all moisture levels stayed under 1%.

= ((1/n 1) i=1 (ei e)2 )(1/2) , where n is the number of observations, ei is the difference in the moisture content predicted and that determined by the reference method for the ith sample, and e is the mean of ei for all of the samples.
4 SEP

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IV. C ONCLUSION The results demonstrate the usefulness of the RF impedance method in estimating the mc of peanut kernels nondestructively and rapidly. This method is applicable to small samples and, thus, could be used for routine mc measurements as well as to detect high-moisture kernels that are blended with those at acceptable mc levels that may act as centers for mold growth. A practical instrument using this electronic circuit could be an inexpensive and useful tool in marketing, drying, and processing of peanuts. The method could be extended to other products like cereal grain and nuts with suitable calibration. R EFERENCES
[1] O. J. Lower, T. C. Bridges, and R. A. Bucklin, On-Farm Drying and Storage Systems. St. Joseph, MI: ASAE, 1994. Publication 9. [2] L. G. Briggs, An Electrical Resistance Method for the Rapid Determination of the Moisture Content of Grain, 1908. Bur. Plant Industry Cir. 20, U.S.D.A. [3] S. O. Nelson, Use of electrical properties of grain-moisture measurement, J. Microw. Power, vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 6772, 1977. [4] R. S. Hutchison and C. E. Holaday, Development of a Moisture Prole Meter for Peanuts. St. Joseph, MI: ASAE, 1978. ASAE Paper 78-3063. [5] S. O. Nelson, C. V. K. Kandala, and K. C. Lawrence, Moisture determination in single grain kernels and nuts by RF impedance measurements, IEEE Trans. Instrum. Meas., vol. 41, no. 6, pp. 10271031, Dec. 1992. [6] C. V. K. Kandala, Moisture determination in single peanut pods by complex RF impedance measurement, IEEE Trans. Instrum. Meas., vol. 53, no. 6, pp. 14931496, Dec. 2004. [7] C. V. K. Kandala, S. O. Nelson, R. G. Lefer, K. C. Lawrence, and R. C. Davis, Instrument for single-kernel nondestructive moisture measurement, Trans. ASAE, vol. 36, no. 3, pp. 849854, 1993. [8] S. O. Nelson, Frequency and moisture dependence of the dielectric properties of high-moisture corn, J. Microw. Power, vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 213218, 1978. [9] C. V. K. Kandala, S. O. Nelson, and K. C. Lawrence, Non-destructive electrical measurement of moisture content in single kernels of corn, J. Agric. Eng. Res., vol. 44, no. 2, pp. 125132, 1989. [10] C. V. K. Kandala and S. O. Nelson, Measurement of moisture content in single kernels of peanuts: A nondestructive electrical method, Trans. ASAE, vol. 33, no. 2, pp. 567572, 1990. [11] C. V. K. Kandala, S. O. Nelson, and K. C. Lawrence, Moisture determination in single kernels of cornA nondestructive method, Trans. ASAE, vol. 31, no. 6, pp. 18901895, 1988. [12] S. O. Nelson, Dielectric properties of grain and seed in the 1 to 50-Mc range, Trans. ASAE, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 3848, 1965.

Chris L. Butts received the B.S. and M.S. degrees in agricultural engineering from Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, in 1979 and 1981, respectively, and the Ph.D. degree in agricultural engineering from the University of Florida, Gainesville, in 1988. He was a General Engineer with the Veterans Administration Medical Center, Salem, VA, and a Research Engineer with the Biological and Agricultural Engineering Department, University of Georgias Tifton Campus. Since 1988, he has been conducting research at the National Peanut Research Laboratory, Dawson, GA, in the area of peanut curing, storage, transportation, and handling. He has developed a decision support system that aids in managing commercial peanut-curing facilities. He is an Agricultural Engineer with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Dawson. Dr. Butts is an active member of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers and the American Peanut Research and Education Society. He is a Registered Professional Engineer in the state of Georgia.

Chari V. K. Kandala (SM03) was born in Kakinada, India, in 1939. He received the B.S. degree from Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, India, and the M.S. degree in physics from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, India. He also received another M.S. degree in physics and the Ph.D. degree in biological and agricultural engineering from the University of Georgia, Athens. From 1968 to 1975, he was an Assistant Professor of physics with the G.B.P. University, Pantnagar, India, and from 1975 to 1983, he was a Senior Engineer in electronics and instrumentation with ICRISAT, Hyderabad, India. Since 1985, he has been with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Athens, GA, working on nondestructive measurement of moisture content in grain using RF impedance methods. Since 2001, he has been with the National Peanut Research Laboratory, Dawson, GA, developing optical and electronic instrumentation for peanut quality measurements. Dr. Kandala is a member of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers and the International Society for Optical Engineering.

Stuart O. Nelson (SM72F98LF00) was born in Stanton County, NE, in 1927. He received the B.S. and M.S. degrees in agricultural engineering, the M.A. degree in physics, and the Honorary Doctor of Science degree from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, in 1950, 1952, 1954, and 1989, respectively. He also received the Ph.D. degree in engineering from the Iowa State University, Ames, in 1972. From 1954 to 1976, he was a Research Engineer with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Lincoln, and a National Research Leader for electromagnetic radiation investigations. He was a Professor of agricultural engineering and a Graduate Faculty Fellow with the University of Nebraska. In 1976, he transferred his laboratory to the USDAs Richard B. Russell Agricultural Research Center, Athens, GA, where he is an Adjunct Professor and a member of the graduate faculty of the University of Georgia, Athens. His research interests include the use of radio frequency and microwave dielectric heating for seed treatment, stored-grain insect control, and agricultural product conditioning; studies of the dielectric properties of grain, seed, insects, fruits and vegetables, coal, and minerals; methods of dielectric properties measurement; dielectric properties and density relationships in granular and pulverized materials; and moisture measurement through sensing dielectric properties of agricultural products. These studies have been documented in more than 600 publications. Dr. Nelson is a member of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, IMPI, AMPERE, AAAS, NSPE, CAST, OPEDA, Sigma Tau, Sigma Xi, Gamma Sigma Delta, and Tau Beta Pi. He is a Fellow of American Society of Agricultural Engineers (ASAE), IMPI, and AAAS. He received the IMPI Decade Award, the NSPE Founders Gold Medal as the 1985 Federal Engineer of the Year, the USDA Superior Service Award, the Professional Achievement Citation in Engineering from Iowa State University, the OPEDA Professional of the Year Award, and election to the National Academy of Engineering in 1990. He was inducted into the University of Nebraska Biological Systems Engineering Hall of Fame in 1999. He also received the Medal of Honor from the Georgia Engineering Foundation in 1999 and the McCormick-Case Gold Medal Award from ASAE in 2000 for exceptional and meritorious engineering achievement in agriculture. He was inducted into the USDA, ARS Science Hall of Fame in 2002.