Title :
PC-Based Instrumentation System for the Detection of Moisture Content of Tea Leaves at Its Final Stage
Author :
Hazarika, D. ; Laskar, S. ; Sarma, A. ; Sarmah, P.K.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Electr. Eng., Assam Eng. Coll., Guwahati
Abstract :
This paper describes a PC-based instrumentation system designed for online monitoring of the moisture content (MC) of tea leaves at its final stage. A fringe-field capacitive probe is used as a sensor to detect the MC of a tea leaf sample. The probe is mounted on the shaft of a stepper motor. The stepper motor is used to shake the tea leaf samples to obtain similar compactness for all tea leaf samples whose MCs are to be monitored. The introduction of shaking facility in the measurement procedure ensures consistency of measurement. The three-dimensional finite element method is used for the determination of field distribution around the surface of the sensor and the capacitance of the sensor
Keywords :
capacitive sensors; computerised instrumentation; finite element analysis; moisture; moisture measurement; 3D finite element method; PC instrumentation system; capacitance; capacitive sensor; field distribution determination; fringe-field capacitive probe; fringe-field capacitor; moisture content detection; moisture measurement; online monitoring; stepper motor; tea leaves; Capacitance; Capacitive sensors; Chemical sensors; Finite element methods; Instruments; Mechanical sensors; Moisture; Monitoring; Probes; Shafts; Capacitive sensor; finite element method (FEM) analysis; fringe-field capacitor; moisture measurement; tea leaves;
Journal_Title :
Instrumentation and Measurement, IEEE Transactions on
DOI :
10.1109/TIM.2006.881031
