Moisture content analysis of metal powders, using oven desorption followed by Karl Fischer titration

Paper in proceeding, 2020

In this paper, we use Oven Desorption followed by Karl Fischer Titration (KF), to measure moisture content in a newly opened PBF-LB Hasteloy X powder (we found 28.8 ppm), an PBF-EB powder (13.7 ppm) and a HIP powder (6.7 ppm). This method heats a powder sample inside a hermetically closed vial, in an oven. At the same time an inert gas flow enters, flushes out the evaporated water and exits the vial, via a double hollow needle. The gas-water mixture that exits is directed to the Karl Fischer Titration, where the evaporated moisture is quantified. Included is also a comparison with thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and a climate chamber moisturization experiment of a PBF-LB HX powder followed by KF analysis. After the moisturization and KF analysis, the same powder was characterized in terms of oxygen content.