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Abstract—An investigation of the influence of unshelled
peanut orientation on microwave moisture sensing from
measurement of dielectric properties is presented for the first
time in this article. A free-space dielectric measurement
technique was used for measurement on cleaned unshelled
peanuts at 9.6 GHz with a pair of low-cost printed Yagi-Uda
antennas. The peanut sample was placed between the
transmitting and receiving antennas in a cubical polyester
sample container (76 mm x 76 mm x 76 mm). Influence of
orientations of the peanut pods, were studied with 2, 3, 4 and 6-
direction measurements of the dielectric properties of the
sample. The different measurement directions were obtained by
rotation of the cubical sample container. The dielectric properties were determined from measurements of the
attenuation and phase-shift caused by the peanut sample when placed between the antennas. The dielectric properties
of the peanut sample were found to be dependent on the orientation distribution of pods. The average value of
dielectric properties determined from 6-direction measurement was more representative of the dielectric properties of
the bulk peanut sample. A temperature-compensated function for the dielectric properties and subsequent moisture
content calibration equation were established and used during the in-field testing. Results of the in-field microwave
moisture measurements are compared with values obtained by using the official moisture determination method
(capacitance-type meter).
Index Terms—Bulk properties, cleaned unshelled peanuts, complex permittivity, free-space measurement, microwave
sensing, moisture content.
I. Introduction
OISTURE sensing by microwave measurements is of
interest for quality assurance in the peanut production and
processing industry [1]-[6]. Because of their polar nature, water
molecules have a strong interaction with the electric field of the
electromagnetic wave at microwave frequencies. The ability of
the water dipoles to be polarised by the electric field is defined
by the relative complex permittivity (εr=ε'-jε''), where dielectric
constant (ε') represents the energy storage and dielectric loss
factor (ε'') represents the energy loss. Therefore, the relative
complex permittivity is a unique parameter for each condition
of cleaned unshelled peanut. Typically, the water dipole
polarisation plays an important role in relative complex
permittivity measurements for hygroscopic materials at
microwave frequencies above 2.5 GHz, while the dielectric
behavior for materials at frequencies lower than 2.5 GHz is
dominated by ionic conductivity [7]-[9]. It is well known that
the cost and complexity of microwave components increase
with frequency. Therefore, a tradeoff between cost and
This paragraph of the first footnote will contain the date on which you
submitted your paper for review. It will also contain support information,
including sponsor and financial support acknowledgment. For example,
“This work was supported in part by the U.S. Department of Commerce
under Grant BS123456.”
The next few paragraphs should contain the authors’ current
affiliations, including current address and e-mail. For example, F. A.
measurement frequency has been a concern in microwave
moisture meter development.
Cleaned unshelled peanuts have a unique shape and the size
of peanut pods depends on the type and variety. Accounting for
about 80% of USA peanut production are runner type peanut,
because it is high yield and it is commonly used for making
peanut butter. Typically, the shape of runner type peanut is
nearly cylindrical and they contain two kernels inside. For the
single kernel peanut pods, they are nearly of spherical shape. It
was reported by researchers from University of Georgia [10]
that for the runner type peanut the pod density increased with
peanut pod maturity while the moisture content decreased
significantly with pod maturity. The average pod densities for
immature kernels, mid-mature kernels and mature kernels were
540 kg m-3, 620 kg m-3 and 690 kg m-3, respectively. Therefore,
the pod density implies the edible kernels in the peanut sample.
The peanut maturity determination was predicted by observing
the color of peanut pods [11]. The peanut sample was taken
from four to five peanut plants (180 - 200 pods) which were
Author is with the National Institute of Standards and Technology,
Boulder, CO 80305 USA (e-mail: author@ boulder.nist.gov).
S. Julrat and S. Trabelsi are with USDA Southeast Poultry Research
Laboratory, 934 College Station Road Athens, GA 30605 USA (e-mail:
sakol.julrat@gmail.com).
Influence of peanut orientation on microwave
sensing of moisture content in cleaned
unshelled peanuts
Sakol Julrat and Samir Trabelsi, Fellow, IEEE
M
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randomly dug in the field. The maturity level for harvest was
70% or more of peanut pods from the brown and black color
classes. Later, [12] proposed a peanut bulk density estimator
technique for in-field peanut measurements. A peanut sample
container was mounted on a vibrator to minimize the space
between the peanut pods or some other abnormal peanuts such
as damage peanut pods. The average bulk density of uncleaned
peanut runner type, Spanish type and Virginia type were 290 kg
m-3, 307 kg m-3 and 256 kg m-3, respectively, obtained from the
2002, 2003 and 2004 Uniform Peanut Performance Test [12],
the dielectric properties of bulk peanut samples are those of
nonhomogeneous materials and different from those of
biological anisotropic materials such as chicken meat [13] and
woods [14]-[15].
The dielectric properties of cleaned unshelled peanuts were
first measured with a microwave free-space measurement
system involving an automatic vector network analyser and
horn-lens antennas system [1]. This technique is
nondestructive, does not require contact with the sample, and
can be flexible in terms of sample size which can be achieved
by changing the sample thickness. The measured dielectric
properties of cleaned unshelled peanuts were not only related to
moisture content but also to bulk density which is characteristic
of particulate materials [16]. Later [1]-[4], a density-dependent
calibration function expressed in terms of dielectric properties
was established for cleaned unshelled peanuts moisture content
determination. It was also implemented in the first portable
unshelled peanut microwave moisture meter [17] for in-field
cleaned unshelled peanuts measurements. Furthermore, a
nondestructive and noncontact microwave measurement
system for foreign materials sensing in peanut samples was
developed [18]. The measured dielectric properties were
significantly different with the foreign material contents and
can be used for the development of algorithms for determining
foreign material content.
To the authors’ knowledge, the influence of peanut pods
orientation has not been reported with respect to dielectric
properties measurement and moisture content determination.
Studying the influence of peanut orientation and measurements
for different positions of the peanut sample will provide insight
on the influence of peanut orientation and is useful in
developing accurate and robust algorithms for nondestructive
moisture content determination.
II. MATERIALS AND METHODS
A. Microwave circuit design and measurement
technique
A free-space measurement technique for a small unshelled
peanut sample (76 mm x 76 mm x 76 mm), was designed and
developed based on our previous measurement system for
foreign-materials sensing in cleaned unshelled peanuts. A pair
of printed Yagi-antennas with vertical electromagnetic
polarisation [18] was used. Figure 1 shows the microwave
components of the proposed microwave free-space
measurement system. The peanut sample in cubical sample
container (76 mm x 76 mm x 76 mm) was placed in the middle
between transmitter and receiver antennas with the interfaces
31mm away from the antennas. The microwave source (Analog
Devices: 110227-HMC734LP5), was a low-cost voltage-
controlled oscillator with 5 Volt reference operating at 9.6
GHz. An 18 dB isolator was used to prevent any reflected signal
from reaching the source. A power divider (3 dB) was used to
provide the microwave reference signal to the local oscillator
(LO) port of the IQ-demodulator (Polyphase microwave:
AD90120B) and a transmitted signal to the transmitting
antenna. The electromagnetic energy radiates into the material
sample, which was 76 mm thick. The microwave phase was
shifted, and the microwave power was attenuated due to the
microwave-material interaction mechanisms. The receiving
antenna collects the transmitted electromagnetic wave from the
peanut sample and it was amplified by a 20 dB amplifier (Mini-
Circuits: ZX60-183A-S+) before sending the signal to the radio
frequency (RF) port of the IQ-demodulator.
The data acquisition unit (Measurement computing: usb-
1608fs) was connected to the IQ-demodulator which converted
the analog signals into digital signals which were sent to the
personal computer via universal port (USB). The measured
transmission parameters, attenuation and phase shift, are related
to the voltages at the IQ-demodulator output as follows:
𝑀𝑎𝑔𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑒 = 𝑉+𝑉 (1)
𝑃ℎ𝑎𝑠𝑒 = tan
(2)
where VI and VQ are the voltage readings at the IQ-demodulator.
The attenuation (A) and phase shift (
∅
) due to microwave-
material interaction can be expressed as follows:
𝐴 = 𝑀𝑎𝑔𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑒, 𝑆 (𝑑𝐵)− 𝑀𝑎𝑔𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑒, 0 (𝑑𝐵) (3)
∅ = 𝑃ℎ𝑎𝑠𝑒, 𝑆 (𝑟𝑎𝑑)− 𝑃ℎ𝑎𝑠𝑒, 0 (𝑟𝑎𝑑) (4)
where Magnitude, S and Magnitude,0 are the magnitude with
and without sample, respectively. Phase, S and Phase,0 are the
phase with and without sample, respectively. The dielectric
properties can be determined from measured attenuation and
phase shift as follows [19]-[20];
Fig. 1.
Layout of microwave components for a peanut moisture
measurement system
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𝜀= 1 + ∅
(5)
𝜀 =
.
√𝜀 (6)
where 𝜀is the dielectric constant and 𝜀 is the dielectric loss
factor, c = 3*108 m s-1 is the speed of light, d is the sample
thickness in meters (width of sample container), and f is the
frequency in hertz.
A cubical sample container (76 mm x 76 mm x 76 mm) was
designed with a clear color nGen co-polyester 3D printing
filament material [21]. The dielectric properties can be
measured from all 6 faces of the cubical sample container. Face
number 5 is the lid of the cubical container and can be opened
for loading the sample. The lid (with a small pin at each corner)
was designed to fit snugly so that the cubical sample container
is tightly closed. Unshelled peanuts were needed to completely
fill the cubical container. Figure 2 shows, the system integration
in the control box (160 mm x 390 mm x 140 mm). The
transmitter and receiver antennas were mounted on the top
compartment. All microwave components and power supply
unit were placed at the bottom compartment under the absorber
sheet (Laird: ECCOSORB®AN79). A Styrofoam piece was
designed to correctly position the cubical sample container
which rested on the absorber sheet. To avoid the unwanted
reflection signals, the absorber sheets were applied to all sides
of the top compartment. Figure 3 shows the complete peanut
moisture measurement system. The Styrofoam top (160 mm x
390 mm x 20 mm) had a square opening (76 mm x 76 mm) for
inserting the cubical sample container in the proper position.
Six different orientations of the peanut sample were measured
by inserting the cubical sample container (face 1 to 6) into the
square slot in the Styrofoam top, with the face being measured
pointing to the transmitter antennas. From each set of
measurement, the average (𝜀) and standard deviation (𝜀)
of dielectric constant or dielectric loss factor were calculated as
follows:
𝜀 =
∑ 𝜀
(7)
𝜀 =
∑ (𝜀−𝜀)
(8)
where i is face number (i = 1, 2, 3, ... ,6), n is number of
face measurement, εi is the dielectric constant or dielectric loss
factor value at face ith.
B. Peanut Moisture Conditioning
Peanut samples (runner type) were collected from a buying
point located in Georgia, USA. Mass distribution of the peanut
samples (6.9% moisture content) was determined and plotted in
Fig. 4. Each bag of peanuts weighed about 2 kilograms. The
initial moisture content of these peanut samples was on average
about 6.9% (wet basis) [22]. To obtain samples with higher
moisture levels, peanuts were sprayed with a fine mist of
deionized water and sealed in plastic bags. For each target
moisture level, the amount of water to be added was calculated.
After the water was added, the samples were kept in a cold room
at 4°C for three days to equilibrate. Each day the samples were
stirred one by one to allow an even distribution of the water
within the sample. A total of 10 peanut samples were prepared
with moisture ranging from 6.9% to 14.9%. Peanut pod samples
were arbitrarily loaded in a container of size 0.210 m x 0.121 m
x 0.205 m, the total weight was 1.825 kg (bulk density is 337.1
kg m-3) with a total of 1499 peanut pods. The two-kernels
peanut pods were the main population with an average mass
between 1 to 1.75 grams and corresponding average length and
diameter of 25 mm and 6 mm, respectively. The average mass
of single kernel pods was about 0.5 grams, they are nearly round
with average diameter of 6 mm.
Fig. 2. System integration in the top compartment of the control box.
Fig. 3. Peanut moisture measurement system operating at 9.6 GHz.
Fig. 4. Mass distribution of cleaned unshelled peanut samples (6.9%
moisture content) -Single kernels and -Two-kernels.
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C. Oriented Peanut Loading
The cleaned unshelled peanut pods were carefully oriented and
loaded into the cubical sample container, layer by layer, as
illustrated in Fig. 5 (a). With the cover lid tightly in place,
measurements were taken for each face of the container
resulting in six independent measurements for each sample. In
all, 180 peanut pods (two-kernels = 150 pods with average
length = 25 mm and diameter 6 mm, single kernels = 30 pods
with average diameter 6 mm) were used to fill the cubical
sample container. The bulk density of oriented peanut sample
was 375.8 kg m-3. It should be noted that there was a small gap
between the lid and peanut sample which allowed the lid to
close tightly the cubical sample container. The lid was held by
the friction force between the pins and container.
D. Arbitrary Peanut Loading
The cleaned unshelled peanut samples were arbitrarily loaded
by hand in the cubical sample container (no peanut pods size
selection). Empty pockets near the corners and edges were
carefully avoided by spreading the cleaned unshelled peanut
samples as illustrated in Fig. 5 (b). In all, 147 peanut pods (two-
kernels = 132 pods with average length = 25 mm and diameter
6 mm, single kernels = 15 pods with average diameter 6 mm)
were used to fill the cubical sample container. The bulk density
of arbitrarily loaded peanut sample was 318.9 kg m-3.
E. Oven Moisture Content Determination
Oven moisture content [22] was used as the standard
technique for determining the moisture content in peanut
samples. The oven moisture content was determined for 100
grams of peanut pod sample. The peanut pod sample was placed
in an aluminum pan and kept in the oven at 130°C for 6 hours.
Once out of the oven, the samples were placed in a desiccator
over anhydrous CaSO4 and allowed to cool to room
temperature. Moisture content of the samples was calculated on
wet basis as follows:
MC (%)=
∗100 (9)
where MC (%) is moisture content, 𝑚 is the mass of the water
in the sample, and 𝑚 is the mass of the dry matter in the
sample.
III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
A. Oriented and Arbitrary loadings
Measurements of oriented and arbitrary loadings of cleaned
unshelled peanut samples were investigated in this section as an
example to show the influence of pod orientations in these two
extreme situations. To avoid moisture loss during the peanut
loading process, peanut pod samples of low moisture content
(6.9% wet basis [22]), from a buying point in Georgia were
used. The sample was stored in a plastic bag and kept at room
temperature (23°C) for 12 Hours before the measurements. An
empty cubical sample container was used for system calibration
by rotating and measurement at all 6 orientations.
Measurement results of oriented cleaned unshelled peanut
loading are shown in Fig. 6 (green bars), the dielectric
properties measurements from faces 1 and 3 show the highest
dielectric properties values compared to faces 2, 4, 5 and 6. This
was not only related to the orientation of pods only but also to
the number of kernels interacting with the electric field. As
shown in Fig.5 (a), a higher number of peanut kernels was
presented in the measurement direction for faces 1 to 3 (6
kernels) than for faces 2 or 4, (5 kernels).
However, sometimes 5 kernels were presented in direction
faces 1 to 3 because of the longer length of peanut pods.
Generally, more air gaps were presented for the 5-kernel
direction than for the 6-kernel direction. It should be noted that
more air gaps could be present at the top because some space
Fig. 5.
Cleaned unshelled peanut in the cubical container with two
different peanut loading conditions, (a) oriented (peanut pods were
always with their long axis in the direction of faces 1,3 and the 1-
kernel
pods were used to fill up the gap when the 2-
kernel pods cannot fill the
gaps) and (b) arbitrary
(a)
(b)
Fig. 6.
Measured dielectric properties of a cleaned unshelled peanut
sample (6.9% moisture content) at 9.6 GHz and room temperature
(23°C) with oriented and arbitrary peanut loadings for 1-direction, 2-
direction, 4-direction and 6-direction measurements, (a) diele
ctric
constant and (b) dielectric loss factor. -oriented and -arbitrary.
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was required between peanut pods and lid for the proper closing
of the lid.
Measurement results of arbitrary cleaned unshelled peanut
loading are shown in Fig. 6 (orange bars). Variations of
dielectric properties measured for arbitrary peanuts loading
were smaller than those of the oriented peanuts. The measured
dielectric properties were close to those of the oriented pods
peanut measurement in the 5-peanut kernel direction rather than
those of the 6-peanut kernel direction. This implies the
influence of peanut orientation.
Small variation in the 2-direction measurements ((faces1,3),
(faces2,4) and (faces5,6)) were shown for the oriented and
arbitrary peanut loadings in Fig.6. This implies a reciprocal
property of the peanut sample (very low-loss material).
Measurements with arbitrary orientation of peanut pods show
much less variation with 4-direction (Face1,2,3,4) and 6-
direction measurements than for those obtained for oriented
pods. Therefore, arbitrary peanut loading was preferable to the
oriented peanut loading.
B. System Calibration for Moisture Content
Determination at 23
°
C
Ten samples of various moisture contents were removed from
the 4°C chamber and held at room temperature (23°C) for 12
hours before the measurements were taken. The samples were
arbitrarily loaded into the cubical sample container layer by
layer to avoid empty pockets near the corners. For each sample,
measurements in 6 directions were performed. Figure 7 shows
the dielectric properties measurements versus oven moisture
content (pods) [22] at indicated number of measurements, 6-
direction = faces 1 to 6, 4-direction = faces 1 to 4, 3-direction =
faces 1, 2 and 5, 2-direction = faces 1 and 2. As shown, the
dielectric properties measurements of 2, 3 and 4-directions
agreed closely with the 6-direction measurements. This means
that it was possible to reduce the number of directions for
measurements.
Moisture content determination algorithms were developed
to evaluate the performance of the different directional
measurements. From the literature [2], [18], [23], it is known
that the dielectric constant and loss factor are related to moisture
content (MC) and bulk density (ρ). Figure 8 show 𝜀−
and
√𝜀 from 6-direction measurement as a function of pod
moisture content. High coefficients of determination were
obtained for both relationships. Therefore, moisture content can
be determined from the following relationships:
𝜀−
= 0.01437𝑀𝐶 + 0.9261 R² = 0.930, SE = 0.0349 (10)
√𝜀 = 0.0408𝑀𝐶 − 0.0285 R² = 0.988, SE = 0.0131 (11)
The standard error of calibration (SEC) can be used for
evaluating the performance of equation (10) and (11), the
standard error of calibration was calculated as follows:
SEC =
∑(∆𝑀)
(12)
where N is number of samples, P is number of independent
variables in the regression equation with which the calibration
is performed (P = 2 for equation (10) and P = 1 for equation
(11)), ∆Mi is the difference between predicted value of moisture
content and that determined by a standard oven method for the
ith sample. It should be noted that the unit of SEC is the
prediction error in percentage moisture. The calculated SEC for
6 directions measurement for moisture content prediction were
0.624% and 0.305% for equation (10) and (11), respectively.
Cross validation was applied to the other directional
measurements. The standard error of performance (SEP) for
moisture content was calculated for the cross validation (data
set that were not used in the calibration) as follows:
SEP =
∑(∆𝑀−𝑀)
(13)
where N is number of samples, ∆Mi is the difference between
predicted value of moisture content and that determined by a
standard oven method for the ith sample, and
𝑀 = (∑∆𝑀
)/
𝑁. The unit of SEP and SEC is the same. The SEPs for 2, 3, and
(a)
(b)
Fig. 7. Measured dielectric properties of cleaned unshelled peanuts
(arbitrarily loaded) as a function of moisture content at 9.6 GHz and room
temperature (23°C) at indicated directions of measurement, 6-direction = all
faces, 4-directions = faces 1 to 4, 3-directions = faces 1, 2 and 5, 2-direction
= faces 1 and 2, (a) dielectric constant and (b) dielectric loss factor. - 6-
direction,
- 4-directions, - 3-directions and - 2-direction.
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Journal
8 IEEE SENSORS JOURNAL, VOL. XX , NO. XX, MONTH X, XXXX
4-directions were listed in Table I. The SEPs value for equation
(11) were lower than for equation (10) because of the higher
correlation for equation (11). For equation (10), validation of
SEP value for 3-direction measurement compared well with the
SEC for the 6-direction measurement because of the reciprocal
property. However, the SEPs for 4- and 2-direction
measurements were higher than the 6-direction measurement,
respectively. These values show the influence of orientation of
peanut pods in the cubical sample container.
C. System Calibration for Moisture Content
Determination with Temperature Compensation
In some instances, measurements were carried out in
environments where temperature fluctuates. Because dielectric
properties are temperature dependent [19] – [20], there is a need
for compensation for temperature effect when determining
moisture from these properties. Therefore, equations (10) and
(11) need to be established with temperature as a variable.
Figure 9 shows the results 𝜀−
and √𝜀 as functions of
moisture content and temperature for 6-direction measurement.
Regression analyses provided the following relationships:
𝜀−
= 𝑎 𝑀𝐶 + 𝑏 𝑇 + 𝑦 (14)
√𝜀 = 𝑔 𝑀𝐶 + ℎ 𝑇 − 𝑦 (15)
where a, b, g, h, y0 and y1 are the fitting parameters for the
temperature-dependent moisture calibration functions. The
fitting parameters, regression coefficient and the SEC are listed
in Table II. High coefficients of determination were noted for
all measurements. The SECs for equation (15) were lower than
those for equation (14) because of the higher correlation
obtained for equation (15). The variation of the SEC from all
measurements demonstrates the influence of peanut orientation
in the cubical container on the measurements. The SECs for the
6-direction measurements by using equation (14) and (15) were
higher than equation (10) and (11), respectively, indicating
temperature-related errors. The SECs calculations for 6-, 4-, 3-
, and 2-direction measurements of equation (15) show a trend
similar to that observed in the results obtained in equation (11)
shown in Table I.
D. In-field validation measurements
The peanut moisture measurement system was taken to a
buying point in Georgia for in-field measurements. Several
peanut samples were measured. The relationship between the
oven pod moisture content and kernel moisture content was
reported previously [17]. The peanut samples with foreign
materials (about 4000 grams) were sampled from the trailer. A
splitting machine was used to divide the sample into 2 bags
(about 2000 grams each). Bag number 1 was supplied to the
grading room for foreign material and moisture content
determinations. Another bag (bag 2) was reserved, in case
mistakes occurred with bag 1. Therefore, the sample from bag
2 was used for testing the peanut moisture measurement system.
The sample was arbitrarily loaded into the cubical sample
Fig. 8. 𝜀−
and √𝜀 for 6-
direction measurement (arbitrarily loaded)
as a function of moisture content at 9.6 GHz and room temperature
(23°C). -
𝜀
−
and -
√
𝜀
.
TABLE I
SEC. AND SEP. FOR MOISTURE CONTENT PREDICTION AT ROOM
TEMPERATURE (23°C) AND 9.6 GHZ
Directional
measurement
𝜺
−
𝝆
𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟎
Eq. (10)
√
𝜺
Eq. (11)
6-diection = all
faces
SEC 0.624% 0.305%
4-direction =
faces 1 to 4
SEP 0.622% 0.357%
3-direction =
faces 1,2 and 5
SEP 0.644% 0.304%
2-direction =
faces 1 and 2
SEP 0.617% 0.375%
(a)
(b)
Fig. 9. Calibration functions dependence on moisture content and
temperature at 9.6 GHz from 6-
direction measurement (arbitrarily loaded) of,
(a)
𝜀
−
and (b)
√
𝜀
.
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TABLE II
REGRESSION COEFFICIENTS, COEFFICIENTS OF DETERMINATION
AND SEC FOR CALIBRATION EQUATIONS (14) AND (15) AT 9.6
GHZ.
Directions
Regression
coefficients
Coefficients of
determination
Prediction error,
% MC.
A b y0 R
2
SE SEC
Equations (12)
6 0.0414 0.0047 0.8567 0.933 0.0328 0.782%
4 0.0421 0.0049 0.8552 0.939 0.0319 0.748%
3 0.0415 0.0047 0.8551 0.929 0.0339 0.806%
2 0.0423 0.0049 0.8514 0.935 0.0331 0.772%
G h y1 R
2
SE SEC
Equations (13)
6 0.0372 0.0028 -0.0547 0.963 0.0203 0.541%
4 0.0375 0.0028 -0.0603 0.958 0.0220 0.578%
3 0.0368 0.0028 -0.0498 0.962 0.0204 0.548%
2 0.0373 0.0029 -0.0600 0.954 0.0229 0.606%
TABLE III
SEP OF IN-FIELD MOISTURE CONTENT PREDICTION AT 9.6 GHZ
Direction measurements
𝜺
−
𝝆
𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟎
Eq. (14)
(
𝜺
)
Eq. (15)
4-direction = faces 1, 2, 3 and 4 SEP 1.166% 0.841%
2-direction = faces 1 and 3 SEP 1.493% 0.967%
2-direction = faces 2 and 4 SEP 1.149% 0.909%
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container layer by layer to avoid empty pockets near the
corners.
The cleaned unshelled peanuts were collected from bag 2 for
the measurement. In total, 74 peanut samples were measured.
The temperature of the peanut sample was measured with
an infrared thermometer (Fluke® 561) at different locations in
the cubical sample container before the microwave
measurement. The measured temperature of the sample ranged
from 15 °C to 32 °C. For the in-field measurement, 4-direction
measurement instead of 6-direction was performed to avoid
temperature drift during the measurements.
Figure 10 shows the in-field kernel moisture content
prediction (bag 2) by using equations (12) and (13) versus the
official meter kernel moisture prediction (peanut sample from
bag 1). It should be noted that the official moisture meter was a
capacitance-type meter utilizing measurements at 2 MHz. As
we can see the predicted kernel moisture content of the
proposed system follows the same trend with the official meter.
However, the official moisture meter tests were time consuming
because the peanuts must first be shelled. It is to be noted that
the microwave moisture meter was calibrated in the laboratory
against the moisture determined with oven-drying technique
and not the official meter.
To evaluate the influence of the peanut orientation, the SEP
was calculated with the moisture from the official meter taken
as reference. Values of the SEP as listed in Table III. The best
SEP was obtained from equation (15) with 4-direction
measurement. The SEP is slightly higher for 2-direction
measurements for both equations (14) and (15). This may imply
that there was influence of peanut orientation in the dielectric
properties measurements. The box plot of standard deviation of
the in-field dielectric properties measurements is plotted in Fig.
11. As can be seen the variation between 2-direction and 4-
direction measurements was very obvious. The variations in
Fig.11 agreed well with results shown in Fig. 6. This was
another confirmation of the influence of peanut pod orientation
in the in-field measurements.
IV. CONCLUSION
Influence of peanut sample orientation on the dielectric
properties and moisture content determination has been
investigated. A free-space dielectric measurement system
operating at 9.6 GHz was designed for measuring cleaned
unshelled peanuts in a cubical sample container (6 faces).
Oriented and arbitrary loadings of peanut pods were
investigated for purpose of comparison. The dielectric
properties measurement was not related to the orientation of
(a)
(b)
Fig. 10. In-field kernel moisture content prediction by using 4-direction
measurement (arbitrarily loaded) at 9.6 GHz plotted against kernel moisture
content obtained with an official moisture meter, (a) equation (14) and (b)
equation (15). -predicted and -ideal line.
(a)
(b)
Fig. 11. Box plot of standard deviation of the in-field measurement of, (a) 𝜀
and (b)
𝜀
.
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pods only but also to the number of kernels interacting with the
electric field. Prediction algorithms of moisture content based
on dielectric constant 𝜀−
and dielectric loss factor √𝜀)
were separately developed for arbitrary loading (practical). The
measurement results showed that moisture content had a high
correlation with √𝜀 rather than 𝜀−
which is close
agreement with [18]. For moisture content predicted with √𝜀,
the average dielectric measurement for the 6 directions were
more representative of the peanut sample and therefore
provided better standard error of calibration for moisture
content prediction compared to 4- and 2-direction
measurements. The standard error of performance (compared to
the official meter) was about 0.84% and 1.17% for in-field
moisture content prediction by using the √𝜀 and 𝜀−
,
respectively. By using the √𝜀, the SEP for the 2-direction
measurement was higher than that for the 4-direction
measurements. The cost of the proposed sensor operating at 9.6
GHz is less than $7000 which is about 7 to 10 times less than
the cost of a vector network analyzer operating at the same
frequency. By using the average value of multi-direction
measurements of dielectric properties one can reduce the
influence of peanut orientation which is useful in developing
low-cost, accurate, and robust microwave instruments for
peanut moisture sensing.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This work was supported in part by the Georgia Federal-
State Inspection Service/Ga Institute of Technology under
Grant 58-6040-7-018 and in part by the U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service under contract for
service with the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education,
managed by Oak Ridge Associate University under the ARS
Research Participation The authors would like to thank Dr.
Stuart O. Nelson for his insightful comments and suggestions.
The authors would like to thank Dr. Micah A. Lewis, an
agriculture engineer at USDA-ARS in Athens, Georgia and Mr.
Ron Dozier, buying point manager of Peanut Producers, LLC
at Bartow, Georgia, for supporting the in-field measurements.
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