MOISTURE ANALYZER (Karl Fischer)

There is no single, universal definition of moisture. The definition usually depends on the measuring principle used, so it is important to distinguish between “moisture” and “water content”.

Moisture includes every substance that evaporates when a material is heated. Besides water, this can include:
• Organic solvents
• Alcohols
• Greases, oils and aromatic components
• Plasticizers
• Decomposition and combustion products

Water content refers to water only. Systems that measure only the water content are called water-specific, and other evaporating substances do not influence their readings. In plastics drying, where very low water contents must be detected, a water-specific method is strongly recommended because it reliably reports the actual water content of the polymer.