There are a wide variety of products for which moisture analysis is a key factor in determining the quality of the product.  There are a great many foodstuffs where moisture content is very important.  In foodstuffs the moisture which is driven off by the oven is usually water.  The drying process is continued until the rate at which moisture is being driven off is reduced to the point where the process may be considered complete.  The scale usually measures the percentage of weight change in the sample.  The oven is usually capable of providing a rapid run-up in temperature at the beginning of the testing cycle.  The initial portion of the temperature cycle may be at a higher temperature than the bulk of the drying cycle.  This is done to simply reduce the overall amount of time required for the moisture analysis.

    The most popular scale capacity used in moisture analyzers is 50 g.  This means that the samples to be analyzed, must be relatively small.  The most popular values are in the range of 5 g to 15 g.  Generally speaking, the smaller the sample, the faster the determination.  There is an optimum temperature for making the determination for different samples, and the better scales provide aid in determining what the temperature should be.  The better moisture analyzers have a graphic display and can produce plots of the results that help in determining the optimum temperature.

    Where moisture control is vital to a production process, several moisture analyzers may be required to provide continuous analysis data so that proper feedback controls can be utilized in the production process.  This involves the continuous extraction of samples from the production line.  These samples should be fairly uniform in weight and their profile should be flattened to accommodate the oven.  Understanding the process and the chemical properties of the sample can be very important in producing proper results.  For instance, too high a temperature can boil off chemicals other than water, and thereby distort the results.

    Moisture analysis requires that the user have some knowledge about the samples which are being analyzed.  A good moisture analyzer can help in making the process easier, but the user must provide the basic information required for setting the oven parameters.