Online measurement of moisture content of biomass based on LiDAR images

•LiDAR provides real-time and accurate measurement of moisture content in biomass.•The relationship between the moisture content of biomass and its echo intensity has been studied.•Explored the influence of three factors on the echo intensity of moist biomass.•The measurement accuracy of LiDAR is evaluated by the loss-on-drying method. Fast real-time moisture content (MC) measurement of biomass feedstock is important for stable and efficient combustion control in biomass furnaces. In this study, a novel MC measurement method using LiDAR images was proposed based on the calibrated relationship between the signal echo intensity and sample (sawdust and straw) moisture. The experimental results showed that when the MC increased from 0% to 50%, the echo intensity decreased from 5% to 11%, and the relationship between the MC and echo intensity was well fitted by a linear or quadratic function. The influences of the measurement distance, composition, and temperature of the biomass on the measurement accuracy were explored. The absolute measurement error was