Moisture Analyzer

Model Hydrotracer

The new Tinius Olsen Hydrotracer moisture analyser is an effective, accurate, fast and cost effective way to determine the moisture content of materials that uses a chemical determination rather than a thermo-gravimetric technique. Simply put, the traditional techniques to determine the moisture content heat a specimen and once the water has been driven off, the before and after weights of the specimen are compared; this technique does something similar but uses a chemical reaction to measure the amount of moisture released. The advantage of the hydrotracer is that the water/moisture that is driven off cannot be reabsorbed back into the specimen.

The principle of operation is simple: the specimen is heated; the hot, humid vapor reacts with the calcium hydride reagent and the product is hydrogen gas and calcium hydroxide; the concentration of the hydrogen gas is measured and this is a direct correlation to the amount of wter vapor driven off, allowing simple calculation of moisture content in the specimen.

The chemical reaction formula is: CAH2 + 2H2O = Ca(OH)2 + 2H2 .

The amount of reagent that is used in a typical test is very small (approximately 0.1g), and as such no special EPA or OSHA handling or disposal equipment or requirements are needed.