When People are first introduced to the Karl Fischer Moisture Determination Method, eyes glaze over and we can perceive a mental “Why did I ask?”
If you have any history with moisture analysis, you will have found, that for some applications, the Karl Fischer Titration Method is the best and sometimes the only way to get an accurate moisture measurement.
Most non-chemists react to the thought of titrations with “Not for me – do I have to do this?” Even the chemical formula for the Karl Fischer reactionis mind blowing.
However, these days most of the pain is removed with automatic Karl Fischer instruments such as our Aquapal III, that make conducting Karl Fischer tests quite simple. There are still times when your not sure if the equipment is reading correctly or when it gives arcane messages like "Over Titration" that you feel panic. A host of other subtle problems bring on the question “What does this Mean?”
Recently Hank Levi, a colleague of ours at Scientific Gear, developed a list of 20 questions that are periodically asked. He also developed concise answers. They are questions like;
- Why won't my instrument get to the Ready Mode?
- What kind of reagent should I use?
- Is my instrument giving me correct results?
- How much sample should I use?
We would like to share these with you. If you click on the button you can down-load the full list of Karl Fisher questions and answers.
Hank tells us that some of his customers post this list in the lab where it is available for reference at any time to the staff conducting Karl Fischer moisture determinations.
Maybe this will help reduce trepidation about Karl Fischer and help get good repeatable results.
We hope that you check out this list and that it is useful to you. Again thanks for visiting.
I remain a wary respectful friend of Karl Fischer,
Art
P. S. P.S. Did you know that you can subscribe to these exposés, rants, raves and ramblings? All you have to do is enter your email address into the box just to the right of the title.