Dielectric properties of complete oil palm trunk sample (healthy and unhealthy)

Tale Saeidi,Wong Peng Wen,Idris Ismail,Adam R H Alhawari

doi:10.1063/1.5094459

Abstract

Microwave technology is utilized in many fields, especially in measuring the dielectric properties. In this study, the dielectric properties of a complete Oil Palm Trunk (OPT) log are investigated for both healthy and unhealthy (has hollow inside) samples to be used for imaging purpose (to reconstruct an image of the hollow in an unhealthy sample). An open-ended coaxial probe technique is used for measurement. Both Dielectric loss and loss tangent follow the same trend through most of the frequency band. Although the current sample is bigger than recent similar works, the dielectric constant and dielectric loss are positively harmonized with its moisture content. Furthermore, the results are more realistic than recent related works since a complete sample with all its layers is used not only the core as presented in the literature.

Highlights

Oil palm is a tropical tree which is cultivated for industrial production of vegetable oil, rubber, and many other purposes
This paper presents the effect of frequency, sample size, probe location on sample, moisture content, and fiber directions on the dielectric properties of Oil Palm Trunk (OPT) chump
The dielectric properties of the OPT are necessary for imaging, because it is required to calculate the delay in receiving signal between every two antennas. This study investigates both healthy and unhealthy OPT in terms of OPT size, sensor location, frequency, and moisture content

Summary

Introduction

Oil palm is a tropical tree which is cultivated for industrial production of vegetable oil, rubber, and many other purposes. Most of the countries in Southeast Asia and some parts of Africa, exported oil palm plantation and their associated products. As an Asian country, is not an exception, and it is one of the most significant exporters of oil palm plantation in the world. The total life span of an oil palm trunk is about 25 years, which can be productive. Almost 13.6 million OPT logs collected from every 100,000 hectares.. Almost 13.6 million OPT logs collected from every 100,000 hectares.2,3 Most of these cut logs prepared to be applied in the wood industry to make furniture, plywood, and so on.. During the process of biomass fuel, microwave showed promising assistance in the drying process.

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Conclusion