ONLINE ESTIMATION OF THE MOISTURE DISTRIB UTION IN GRANULAR BED UNDERDRYING

A new algorithm for on-line estimation of moisture distribution in non -hygroscopic granular materials is presented. The dynamics of moisture movement in granular materials under drying are frequently modeled by non-liner diffusion equations. By application of Kirchhoff transform, the equations are linearized and then approximated to a lumped parame ter system (LPS) model by means of the finite integral transform techn ique. Kalman filter is applied to the LPS model to estimate moisture d istribution. The results show that the moisture distribution can be es timated satisfactorily from measurements of surface and average moistu re content.