What is nondestructive moisture analysis?
As mentioned earlier, our meters are “secondary” moisture analyzers because they do not heat or chemically treat the measured product. Infrared energy causes a resonance of water molecules, and moisture content can be determined based upon the amount of energy used to cause the resonance. The product is therefore not harmed in any way. Radio frequency moisture meters measure a basic physical property of the material, its dielectric constant. Water has a dielectric constant of about 80, as compared to a dielectric measurement of about 3-5 for most dry materials. Any water addition will increase the combination dielectric constant, showing up on measurement as an increase in moisture content. Again, this dielectric measurement will not affect the product in any way and is therefore a nondestructive measurement.
