The permeability to gas of the sinter mix is of importance for the sinter quality.
Optimum moisture is responsible for a good permeability of gas and a steady reduction of ore.
The moisture measurement enables the fine adjustment of water supply to the rolling drum. On line control of the sinter moisture is an important factor for a constant speed of the sinter bed. The sinter is transported by a conveyor belt to the bunker of the mixer station. The bunker wall attenuates the indication of back scattered neutrons by approx. The nuclear method of moisture measurement is based on the principle that fast neutrons are slowed down by scattering the hydrogen nuclei, but they are hardly slowed down by scattering material of higher atomic number.