Moisture Measurement in Solid Materials

Determining moisture levels in solid materials is important for product quality, handling properties and other considerations. Provided here is an overview of direct and indirect methods for measuring moisture in solids Water is ubiquitous and is unusually reactive because of its high polarity. It not only bonds strongly to itself and to other polar molecules, but also bonds via physical forces to many other substances. These two factors — abundance and chemical reactivity — make the presence and detection of moisture of great concern to several sectors within the chemical process industries (CPI), such as food, paper and plastics. In these and other industries that produce powders and bulk solids, controlling moisture content can have a profound impact on product quality, as well as on the behavior of the solids in handling operations. For example, moisture-related microbial growth is a key factor in pharmaceutical dosage forms, and can cause a number of quality issues, such as active pharmaceutical ingredient degradation and disintegration, discoloration or physical hardening of tablets. Similarly, moisture-related microbial growth is a key factor contributing to food spoilage if appropriate precautions for storage are not…