The technique used in Mantex devices is based on photon absorptiomtery. It's a nondestructive method to improve outcome and enable a more efficient use of biomass. Compared to other present technologies it brings for example moisture detection to a new and higher level!
Photon absorptiometry is sensitive to the effective atomic number and density of the material being analyzed. The absorption and scattering of photons is a combination of two photon-matter interactions. These two are called the photoelectric effect and Compton scattering and are energy dependent. By using two distinct energies it is possible to separate the total attenuation into its basic components and to identify different materials.
This dual photon absorptiometry technique is applicable for analyzing most biological materials and gives a reliable and accurate answer of the composition of the material a lot faster than compared with current methods. This information is unvaluable to industries like pulp and paper mills, sawmills, combustion power plants, etcetera where the outcome of the process is highly dependent on knowledge of the input.
The Mantex application of photon absorptiometry has been studied by SLU, The Swedish University of Argricultural Sciences and found to be most accurate and precise. This study was a validation study on wood chips and showed that the moisture content could be determined with a Standard error of estimate (SEE) of 1.8%.