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Two Different Methods for Analyzing Moisture in a Given Substance
Most people do not worry about the amount of moisture in things. In fact, the amount of moisture in the air and the things around you are probably given little to no thought at all in the daily ins and outs of your life. But if you work in an industry where moisture matters analyzing the amount of moisture in a given substance can be a very important task in your life. Industries that may focus on the moisture content of various things include pharmaceutical manufacturing and development, food processing, construction, and industries involving the use of chemicals just to name a few. Moisture content is important to these industries for several reasons. Moisture can break down different chemicals causing them to become unstable or volatile. Moisture can encourage the growth of various bacteria and other unwanted microorganisms which can wreak havoc on the production of many pharmaceuticals and in the food processing industry as you can surely imagine. Moisture can also break down natural and man made materials which can have serious consequences in the construction industry, obviously threatening the integrity of building structures.
Moisture content in any given substance can be measured in several different ways. One way to measure moisture content is using the Loss on Drying, or LOD, method. This is a process in which the substance sample is weighed, heated for an appropriate amount of time to promote drying, cooled in a dry environment, and then weighed again. The difference in the weight before the drying of the substance and after the drying of the substance gives the test conductor an approximation of moisture content. Conducting this entire process manually in a laboratory using a traditional oven can be very time consuming. Because of the time consuming nature of this process, moisture analysis machines have been developed and are readily available. Two highly accurate and reliable manufacturers of moisture analyzers are the companies, A&D and Ohaus. Some of the features available on moisture analyzers include test parameter memory, digital calibration, halogen heating, timers, and programmable profiles and drying modes to name a few.
Another popular method for analyzing the amount of moisture in a sample substance is the Karl Fischer titration method. This is a method that only measures the amount of water in a given substance (as opposed to other methods, such as the Loss on Drying method which measures any type of moisture in a given substance). This method was developed by a German scientist by the name of Karl Fischer in the year 1935. Even though this method only detects water, it still has many advantages. This method is highly accurate and precise, it requires a relatively small sample of the substance being tested, the preparation of the sample substance is relatively easy, the amount of time required for the moisture analysis is fairly short, the measuring range is practically unlimited and this method is suitable for analyzing solids, liquids and gases.
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