The Research On The Measurement Of Moisture Content Of Starch With Thz-TDS System

Starch is the most important source of energy in food, and it is also the main form ofsweet in nature. Additionally, starch keeps the essential position in the foodstuff andmedicine industry. The applications in these industries, as well as the storage and using ofitself, need the method of controlling the moisture of starch, for the reason that thisparameter will vary rapidly and has the heavy impact on the physical characters. So inpractice, a method which can measure the moisture in a rapid, precise and safe progress isneeded eagerly, comparing that the traditional drying and weighing method is slow andcomplex to execute.This experiment involves a Terahertz-Time Domain Spectroscopy (Thz-TDS) system,which is used to measure the intensity attenuation parameter F and delay parameter T of thepeak in time domain transmission waveform. By transforming and analyzing theseparameters, the relationship between Thz characters and sample moisture has beenestablished. Also, the experiment is divided into two parts to ensure the validity andacceptable error of the measurement, which deal with the sample with high and low moistureseparately. Then the experiment exchange the testing data and the fitting curve to calculatethe across error, in order to make sure the error is credible.In the end, the experiment proposes a model which involves the parameter F and T, forenhancing the robust of the model and process. Though this mixing management gives riseto a bit increase in the error, it enhances the reliability of the measurement processing inpractice with complex environment.To summarize the whole experiment, we have found a reasonable way to measure themoisture content of the starch sample with a low error rate using a compact Thz-TDS system,which can satisfy the need in practical applications.