Moisture measurement and control is a crucial aspect of the Biomass and Biogas industries as it allows for reduction in cost, energy, wasted materials, water usage, dust prevention and more. MoistTech Corp™ has been in the moisture control business for over 40 years providing long term solutions to the manufacturing process.
Increasing Quality
The moisture control levels of raw material infeed to the boiler is a critical component of the combustion process and the monitoring of moisture levels as the materials are being conveyed, giving the opportunity for immediate line adjustments that aren’t normally available. Moisture measurement and control is more than producing a quality product, it is also reducing risks in extremely dusty or flammable environments as well.
Through multiple installations, moisture control has significantly increased the overall quality of products and efficiency within each facility through various points:
“The addition of the MoistTech IR3000s have provided me with the ability to control our process by instantly increasing or decreasing the material flow into the dryer. This variation of our material flow is based on the moisture content and belt scales to provide a dry weight. Prior to the MoistTech technology proved to be a guessing game and time-consuming OWL laboratory tests post dryer.”
Ideal for chain and screw conveyors, the common the issues with moisture measurement and control occur with blending raw materials, during the combustion process and entering & exiting the dryer. The plant manager’s ability to control the line immediately with adjustments is a huge improvement over old method of time-consuming weighing and drying, wasting valuable time. Quality control is vital on the manufacturing line and the ability to alter certain specifications results in better quality products.
“For the last few years we have integrated the MoistTech Online Sensor into our customer’s scopes with the goal of a fully optimized closed loop control. When integrated with our stacker reclaimed the results are lower operating costs, safer storage and improved product quality. The instant feedback informs our plant personnel of controlled moisture all throughout the entire process.”
A non-contact ‘online’ moisture sensor with hundreds of measurements per second, providing real time accurate measurements can provide a maintenance free alternative to moisture measurement and control. MoistTech uses a no-drift optical design to ensure the accuracy and repeatability needed, allowing for gaps, color and height changes in the product. The net result is improved quality and reduced production costs by savings in energy and loss reduction.
Production efficiency improvements due to accurate real-time measurements provide both energy savings and potential increased productivity with lower material losses, the sensors use state-of-the-art components allowing installation in the most extreme locations.
State-of-the-Art Technology
Near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy and imaging are fast and nondestructive analytical techniques that provide chemical and physical information of virtually any matrix. NIR can tell us things about a product in a similar way to visible light. When light hits a product, it will interact in various ways. Transmitted light will pass through the product while backscattered light will reflect from the product. Light will also be absorbed by the product. Absorption is the key to our NIR analysis.
The MoistTech NIR technology is a ratio-based measurement with prime beam. This eliminates the sensitivity to distance, improves stability, improves accuracy and provides a no drift design. Our unique design allows for extremely accurate measurements with far more sensitivity than that of our competitors. This proves us the ability to measure very difficult application where others cannot.
Success
MoistTech is very experienced with the moisture sensing requirements in the combustion process using forest products residue as well as the correct operation of biomass boilers for the assessment of a load of fuel. Most wood fuel boilers are designed to operate with fuel of moisture content of a limited range; feeding fuel that is outside this tolerated range the boiler will either result in inefficiency, leading to increased emissions, or error the control system and fail to function at all.
“The knowledgeable MoistTech Team provides our organization with outstanding support through the development and implementation process. We have worked together on a variety of different projects and applications; their experience has enabled our engineering team to properly evaluate and design systems that meet with our customer’s requirements”
MoistTech Corp. 6408 Parkland Drive Suite 104, Sarasota, FL 34241
941.351.7870 / www.MoistTech.com