Wood Moisture Applications
Dictate the Quality & Efficiency of the Process
Moisture Level Sensing Applications For Wood Products
Managing the moisture content in wood products is among the most significant issues in forest and wood industry production. An unwanted amount of moisture can cause significant impacts on the final product’s quality and interfere with proper production. MoistTech’s NIR (near-infrared) moisture detector allows wood manufacturers to easily adjust moisture levels on real-time information. Proper moisture measurement and management can lower raw material and fuel costs, provide higher returns, and produce more consistent products.
With numerous years of knowledge and experience in the wood and forest processing industry, MoistTech maintains an innovative wood moisture meter that outperforms all competition. The sensors are utilized for non-contact measurements of moisture in forest products such as fiber, sawdust, hog fuel, wood flakes, and wood particles.
MoistTech boasts thousands of installations worldwide, including various forest products, offering both online and laboratory NIR moisture sensors for spot tests in your lines or quality control labs.
The MoistTech IR-3000 moisture gauge has been used extensively within the wood products industry. It is ideal for process control of dryers, blenders, and incoming raw materials, providing real-time moisture measurement. Installation is quick and simple and only needs the wood moisture sensor to be mounted a few inches above the product. MoistTech’s product database allows us to pre-calibrate the wood moisture sensor. With known product moisture samples, each instrument can be calibrated within a few minutes prior to shipment. Field installation then becomes even simpler.
The IR-3000 stores calibrations that can be transferred to other instruments on similar process applications. Each wood moisture measurement device is identical, allowing calibration settings to be used on all instruments on the same application ranges. Standard power requirements and all outputs are incorporated. The sensor provides extensive data through an Ethernet connection or, if required, has several 4-20 ma outputs. Operator interface and digital displays can also be provided. For additional information or to discuss your application, please contact MoistTech.
Our products can also be used with the following types of products and industries:
Wood Product Veneer
The moisture content of wood affects many wood properties, such as strength, drying, glue curing, and bond performance. Moisture measurement is an important part of process control during veneer production to keep pace with the flow of materials. With MoistTech’s NIR moisture controllers, real-time data is fed directly to the mill’s distributed control system for process control.
Wood Product Blending
A product that is put to the blender is critical to the plant’s operation. Correct wood moisture content will allow for precise blending addition that, in turn, will reduce waste and provide significant cost savings. Many plants report that savings alone pay for moisture/resin control costs within weeks of installation. At the exit of the blender, the process can be refined to confirm the correct resin addition, thus preventing press explosions from high moisture in the forming process. Blown boards can be eliminated, and precise moisture/resin control will ensure excellent board properties. Trend analysis that is incorporated into the software in each sensor will allow the operator to prevent problems before they cause production interruptions.
Raw Material & Hog Fuel
Another important concern of the forest industry is to monitor the quality of raw materials going into the mill. Moisture information is needed to determine how much wood a mill is purchasing since much of the pulp wood is purchased on weight. Also, process monitoring is essential due to the variations in the quality of the raw wood materials used. An excess of moisture will affect resin coatings causing delamination and blown boards. Incoming raw material can be monitored to within 0.5%, which allows the dryer personnel to prevent major process changes resulting in interruptions. Dryer infeed can be controlled, thus allowing the output to maintain precise moisture levels that are within 0.1% accuracy. The material can be blended in hog fuel applications for more efficient combustion and significant fuel cost.
Find more videos on our YouTube Channel.
Wood Product Dryer Measurement
Lumber drying is one of the most expensive and important phases of hardwood processing to help improve lumber quality and lower dryer costs. Incoming wood humidity measurement, together with feed rate, can prevent overloading the dryer. Mills that use NIR for moisture measurement and control benefit from a reduction in fuel consumption and maximization of energy efficiency by reducing CO2 emissions during drying. Additionally, reducing “dusting” that occurs when heat is too high and moisture is too low results in product loss.
Measurement of material at the exit ensures that material going to the blender is at the optimum moisture content for resin addition and optimizes moisture prior to the palletizer (10-20%). Moisture measurement at the exit of the dryer can save a significant amount of fuel and prevent fires or explosion risks. Trend analysis that is incorporated into each sensor c an be used to give the operator knowledge of problems before they happen. Contact MoistTech for more information!
Contact Us Today to Assess Your Application:
