A handheld moisture content sensor using coupled-dipole antennas

This paper presents an analysis and design of a handheld moisture content sensor. A dielectric property determination technique was used to measure the magnitudes of the reflection and the coupling coefficients of coupled-dipole antennas. These coefficients were plotted and their intersection determined to obtain the values of ε' r and ε" r (ε' r and ε" r, respectively, are the real and imaginary parts of the relative complex permittivity of the dielectric of interest). Moisture content measurements for paddy at various moisture content levels are shown. Comparison of measurements made by this technique with those made by conventional transmission measurement technique yielded a compensation scheme for error reduction. This sensor is useful for controlling the quality of paddy dried in a continuous microwave drying system process.