Moisture Analysers vs. The Traditional Method: Why You Need a Moisture Analyser

So, you want to save time, waste less product and reduce errors when testing samples for moisture? Thats why you need a moisture analyser. This blog will go in depth on how moisture analysers compare to the traditional oven drying method of testing.

The Significance of Moisture Testing

Moisture determination is a crucial form of quality control that you should perform at multiple stages of production - no matter what your industry. Here are a few examples of how moisture impacts the manufacturing process of various products:

Food

Too much moisture: Can cause sogginess, loss of form and faster mould/bacterial growth, shortening shelf life

Too little moisture: Consumables become hard, bitter or crumbly. Products may last longer, but they become less edible.

Plastics

Too much moisture: Plastic compounds can become sticky and gum up equipment, slowing production

Insufficient moisture: Causes inflexibility, cracking or breaking easily

Glass

Excess moisture: Leads to surface degradation such as cloudiness

Not enough moisture: Requires more sand to create the glass, costing more money

Pharmaceuticals

Overly moist: Increased rates of degradation and reduced efficacy

Too dry: Pills have trouble dissolving in the body, rendering them less effective, while creams, gels and suspensions can dry out, leaving them unusable

Testing a representative sample of your product ensures everything is going smoothly. If the moisture is as it should be, you can continue with the status quo, confident that each product is a consistent quality. If not, you may need to change some settings or recalibrate your manufacturing or production processes to get them back on track.

Traditional Oven Drying Method of Moisture Measurement

The traditional way to perform moisture testing is by using both a balance and an oven. Here’s the process:

1. Weigh the sample on your balance, recording the weight
2. Bake the sample in the oven until dry
3. Weigh the sample again, recording the weight
4. Subtract the dry weight from the wet weight
5. Divide that result by the wet weight
6. Multiply that result by 100 to get your moisture percentage

This is known as the loss-on-drying method of moisture determination.

Limitations of Oven Drying

There are three main limitations to performing moisture determination with the help of an oven. It’s time consuming, wastes quite a bit of product and increases the risk of error through the necessity of manual calculations.

Ovens are quite large, which means there’s an abundance of volume for the heat to fill. Your samples will likely only take up a small percentage of that space, so they’ll take much longer to dry out. You can expect your samples to be dry in 12-24 hours, which is a long time in a fast-paced production facility. By the time you discover the moisture percentage is too much or too little than intended, you’re already half a day or more behind schedule.

To use an oven for moisture testing effectively, you need to use quite a large sample of a product. This requires the allocation of more resources to moisture testing, rather than keeping them for further development and eventually for future purchase.

There are quite a few individual steps to the oven drying process, which increases the risk of errors, especially during the final calculation process. It can be extremely easy to mix up which number to multiply or divide, resulting in an inaccurate moisture percentage.

This article outlines the complex process of oven testing soil samples. 

How Moisture Analysers Work

Moisture analysers also use the loss on drying method, but it combines the weighing, drying and calculation process into one step.

Moisture analysers are also known as moisture balances, as they continually weigh your sample from when it’s placed on the pan all the way to when it’s dry – which you can tell when the weight of the sample stops changing.

It takes a bit of primary set-up, but once you have everything the way you want it, you can save those settings in your moisture balance’s memory to be recalled quickly later.

1. Place your sample on the pan and close the lid
2. Add or recall your preferred heat, testing length and time intervals
3. Start the analyser and allow it to run for the full cycle
4. Record or print the moisture percentage provided on the screen

Advantages of Using a Moisture Analyser

Moisture analysers work quicker, require smaller samples and lead to less errors.

Though oven drying can take as long as 24 hours, your typical moisture analyser test will only take two to 20 minutes, depending on the sample. This gives you back a significant portion of your day and allows you to make quick decisions based on the results.

The average sample size for a moisture analyser test is only a few grams’ worth, between 2g and 14g. You no longer need to dedicate whole batches to the test, instead, a small representative portion will do. More product getting into a customer’s hands!

Last but certainly not least, your moisture analyser performs all the calculations for you. You don’t have to worry about mixing up numbers or not being able to read your coworker’s handwriting down the line. If your analyser is connected to a printer accessory, just hit the print button and you have a hard copy available for your use.

Choosing the Right Moisture Analyser

Inscale offers four different moisture balances so you can find your perfect fit:

PMB Moisture Analyser

Capacities: 50g – 200g

Readabilities: 0.001g – 0.01g

Adam Equipment’s PMB Moisture Analyser boasts a large memory storage, able to store and recall up to 49 recipes and 99 test results. Choose between three heat settings and four drying modes to get exactly the results you need.

DAB Moisture Analyser

Capacities: 110g – 200g

Readability: 0.001g/0.01%

Kern’s DAB Moisture Analyser features an internal memory storage that can form a sequence of 15 complete drying processes and 5 drying processes carried out. A large, 14mm display and nine buttons make operation clear and easy.

DLB Moisture Analyser

Capacity: 160g

Readability: 0.001g

The DLB Moisture Analyser is perfect for growing companies with step-by-step user guidance in six languages. The DLB encourages a smooth learning curve with a large, 17mm display that holds result values until they’re replaced by a new measurement.

DBS Moisture Analyser

Capacity: 60g

Readability: 0.001g

Large production facilities and laboratories will appreciate the DBS Moisture Analysers’ ability to store up to 10 drying programs and 100 drying processes already executed. Not only that, but it can also hold sample descriptions for up to 99 samples.  

Need help deciding which moisture analyser is right for you? Contact the Inscale team.