Humidity is a factor that can greatly influence the fluidity of a material, its compressibility, as well as its cohesiveness. This is vitally important in the agricultural, food, cosmetic, chemical and pharmaceutical industries, as excessive moisture can lead to abused and deteriorated products, as moisture content directly affects the processing capacity, shelf life, use and quality of a product.
Accurate determination of moisture content therefore plays an essential role in ensuring quality. For some types of products, the maximum permissible moisture content may be regulated by law, such as national or international food standards.
What methods are used to determine moisture?
The determination of moisture brings countless benefits to the overall quality of the finished product at any stage of the industrial production process: evaluation of raw materials, reception of goods, storage, process control, quality control, packaging, among others. The most popular method to determine the moisture content is analytically the thermogravimetric method, through weight loss by means of the muffle or ovens drying method, in which the moisture content is determined from the change in weight of the sample after evaporation of the absorbed water in the oven. However, this method of moisture loss by drying (drying oven method) has the disadvantage of requiring many hours to reach a result.
Karl Fischer titration, differential scanning calorimetry and microwave ovens are other methods that also allow to determine moisture, the latter have been used for the rapid determination of moisture in the laboratory. All of the above methods are characterized by not having the ability to determine the moisture content of a sample in situ, in addition to the fact that in each of these methods the sample under analysis is destroyed. It is also currently being used very effectively to determine the moisture content, halogen light being a non-invasive method, very fast and quite accurate. Other new methods for the determination of moisture in foods are the use of infrared light and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
How to determine the moisture of a sample?
Moisture determination must be done effectively, but also quickly so that workflows are not altered. As mentioned above, the thermogravimetric method is the ideal choice. This method basically consists of continuously recording the mass of a sample as a function of temperature or time, and is carried out inside a drying oven. Although the results obtained by this method are quite accurate, it is long and complicated, as it involves many manual steps and takes 2 to 4 hours that can significantly affect productivity indicators in the industry.
Therefore, moisture meters have been developed to speed up the measurement process. This equipment is easy to use and takes a few minutes to perform the analysis, operating under the gravimetric principle, i.e. heating the sample by radiation (halogen, infrared or dark), while continuously recording the decrease in weight until it stabilizes and stops varying.
What does Kalstein offer you?
Kalstein is a manufacturer of medical and laboratory equipment of the highest quality and the best technology at the best PRICES in the market, so you can make your PURCHASE confidently with us, knowing that you have the service and advice of a company specialized in the field and committed to provide you with safe, economical and effective options to perform your functions in the right way. This time we present our Halogen Humidity Analyser YR053483 // YR053486, a new device with cutting-edge technology that has the following characteristics: HERE
- 7-inch touch screen
- Automatic door/Transparent window
- Highlight Halogen Lamp
- Polymeric materials/heat resistant molding
- Dual motor drive/dual fan design
- stainless steel control/chamber
- Dynamic Real-time Curve/Date and Time
- Temperature/Time Setting
- The percentage of moisture content
- Store historical set
- Connect PC and Printer
- Option: Printer
For more information we invite you to take a look HERE
