OUR LABORATORY IS EQUIPPED WITH VARIOUS EQUIPMENT AND CAN MEET VARIOUS REQUIREMENTS OF CHEMICAL ANALYSIS AND METALLOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS.
FOR THE SELECTED INSTRUMENT, WE ILLUSTRATE THE FEATURES IN DETAIL, THE OPERABLE FUNCTIONALITY AND ANALYSIS, IN COLLABORATION WITH Tecnologie Superficiali Srl.
THERMAL BALANCE
What is a thermal balance and what is it used for?
The thermal balance is used for the determination of the moisture content of almost all substances, and also provides the weight of your sample after drying. The fast determination of the moisture content is always of great importance in cases of possible receipt or transfer of moisture from / to products during production processes. In a small quantity of products, the moisture content is a qualitative characteristic, as well as important cost factor. In the trade of industrial and agricultural products, as well as chemical or food products, they are very often obligatory fixed limit values of moisture content, defined in supply contracts and related standards.
Our chemical laboratory is equipped with a Mettler Toledo thermal balance MJ33 Moisture Analyser.
What can we determine at Metalcoating?
We can determine of the amount of dry residue in an aqueous environment or if the solute is solvent
The instrument works on the thermogravimetric principle. At the beginning of the measurement, the Moisture Analyser determines the weight of the sample, the sample is heated with an inbuilt heating module and the moisture vaporizes. During the drying process, the instrument continuously determines the weight of the sample and displays the reduction in moisture. When drying is finished, you see the end result in terms of moisture content and/or dry weight of your sample.
The rate of heating is of decisive importance during the process. The heating module of the instrument needs only a very short time to reach its maximum heating power. In addition, the heating module allows for higher temperatures, an additional factor in shortening the drying time. Uniform heating of the sample material ensures good repeatability of the drying and allows the use of lower weights. This also increases the moisture determination speed, thereby improving the productivity of the analysis.
A thermobalance (or hygrometer – dryer – moisture meter) is a tool which serves for the determination of moisture content. A thermobalance is used for the quick and reliable determination of the moisture content in the fluid materials, porous and solid according to the method of thermogravimetry. By moisture, this does not mean only water, but rather any substance which evaporates when subjected to overheating; this includes, in addition to water: fats, oils, alcohols, solvents, etc.
In the thermogravimetry, the sample is weighed before and after heating, and the moisture content is deducted to give the weight difference. The traditional method of the drying chamber operates according to the same principle, except for the fact that in this case the measurement times are considerably longer. In the method of the drying chamber, the sample is overheated from the outside towards the inside by means of a flow of hot air to extract the moisture. The irradiation with halogen lamp, used in the thermobalance, mainly penetrates the sample where it is then converted into thermal energy, heating up the material from the inside to the outside. Only a negligible part of the radiation is reflected from the sample, even lower if the samples are dark in colour. The depth of penetration of the halogen-rays depends on the coefficient of permeability of the sample. In the case of very low permeability materials, the radiation penetrates only the surface layers of the sample, which may lead to incomplete drying or to the beginnings of combustion. For this reason, the sample preparation phase is of vital importance.
