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Abstract
Moisture content is an important trait for rubber sheet trading system. Therefore, a calibration equation for predicting moisture content was created by near infrared (NIR) technique in order to develop a more fair trading system in Thailand. Spectra were recorded in two systems. One was measurement on each rubber sheet and the other was on a pile of sheets. Both were measured by a handheld NIR spectrometer in the short wavelength region (700–1100 nm) in the transflectance mode using Teflon as a diffuse reflector. The spectra showed the peak at about 900 nm which belongs to isoprene, the major component of rubber sheet. Pretreatment with second derivative was applied to remove baseline shift effect occurring due to thickness differences on each rubber sheet. From validation results, moisture contents predicted by single sheet system were more accurate than a pile of sheet system with standard error of prediction (SEP) = 0.39% and bias of -0.07%, and they were not significantly different from the actual values at 95% confidence. As a result, determining moisture content in each rubber sheet by a handheld NIR spectrometer provided accurate values, easy and rapid operation.
Highlights
Rubber is an important material for multiple applications, in the expanding of automobile industry
This study presents the development of a near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) method for measuring moisture in raw rubber sheet, and the comparison of the accuracy of spectrum acquisition systems, between using a single sheet, and a pile of sheets
By their moisture contents measured conventionally, spectra of raw rubber sheet were manually separated into calibration (140 samples) and validation sets (125 samples) by an odd–even method with transferrst three and last three samples into calibration set to ensure range of calibration set covers one of validation set
Summary
Rubber is an important material for multiple applications, in the expanding of automobile industry. In Thailand, by the current system for trading raw rubber sheet, the price paid to rubber farmers depends on the moisture content. The rubber moisture content is randomly approximated by the visual method and by touching raw rubber sheets by the examiner. The result can be a®ected by environmental factors, and by the personal expertise of the examiner (trader) This is an Open Access article published by World Scientic Publishing Company Based on the total volume of rubber sheet produced annually in Thailand, 1.8 billion baht (about $55 million) will be lost from farmers or trader if the trader over or underestimates the moisture content by only 1%. This study presents the development of a NIRS method for measuring moisture in raw rubber sheet, and the comparison of the accuracy of spectrum acquisition systems, between using a single sheet, and a pile of sheets
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