Precise Water Determination in Petrochemicals with Aquastar® Karl Fischer Reagents & Standards
High water content in petrochemicals can cause corrosion, emulsion formation, increased weight and volume, and reduced fuel efficiency. Therefore, the precise determination of water content in crude oils, motor oils, fuels, lubricants, or transformer oils is extremely important to avoid damages to engines, tanks, pipes and valves by corrosion or the growth of microbes, which is caused by too much water in these products. On the other hand, the determination of the water content has economic, quality and safety-related aspects. Refineries, for example, must pay only for the tons of crude oil they purchase, not for the water which comes with the crude oil. And one safety-related reason is the close monitoring of water in kerosene for aircrafts. It must be kept below 30 ppm to ensure optimal performance and prevent potential issues of blocked fuel lines, as higher amounts of water could lead to frozen fuel lines at higher altitudes, which can then lead to severe emergencies.
Our coulometric Aquastar® Karl Fischer reagents are the right choice to determine water content in ppm ranges precisely and fast. Different reagents are available to be used for titrator cells with and without a diaphragm, as well in combination with a Karl Fischer oven. A fast drift stability characterizes our reagents. We avoid adding chloroform to our reagents, therefore individually other co-solvents can be added to our coulometric reagents to dissolve the sample. Additionally, we offer methanol-free reagents which are needed for samples containing aldehydes and ketones. For the instrument check and for the verification of results, our certified water standards round off the range. A specific oil standard with a water content of 15-30 ppm can be used directly in the titration cell or with the Karl Fischer oven. To test the performance of the Karl Fischer oven, use our solid oven standard which can be heated up over 300°C without decomposition.
