ISSN: 1945-7553
CODEN: JTEVAB
Page Count: 7

Accuracy of Wood Resistance Sensors for Measurement of Humidity

Carll, C
Research forest products technologist and supervisory research physicist, USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, WI

TenWolde, A
Research forest products technologist and supervisory research physicist, USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, WI

(Received 13 October 1994; accepted 12 December 1995)

Abstract

This work was undertaken to evaluate the accuracy of wood resistance sensors for measurement of relative humidity and to identify sources of error in this use. Relative humidity can be expressed as a function of the logarithm of the sensor's electrical resistance and of its temperature. We found that single-point calibration of each sensor compensates for most between-sensor variation, although care must be exercised during calibration. With careful calibration readings, error in relative humidity readings made with these sensors can be limited to ± 10% relative humidity under most conditions. The literature indicates that a lower degree of error than this is anticipated when electrical resistance is used to estimate moisture content measurements. Our data suggest that sorption hysteresis and sensor memory are significant contributors to this (± 10%) relative humidity error.

Keywords:
relative humidity, matchstick sensor, Duff sensor, sorption hysteresis, electrical resistivity

Paper ID: JTE11296J
DOI: 10.1520/JTE11296J
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