RC612Multiphase Determination of Carbon and Water

• Complies with AWS (ANSI) approved method for Determination of Moisture Content of Welding Fluxes and Welding Electrode Flux Coverings
• Qualitative and quantitative analyses
• Easy-to-install combustion tube
• The large diameter reaction tube supports moisture analysis on a variety of sample types including powders, flat strips, or sections of tubes.
• Surface, Free, Organic, Inorganic carbon type differentiation
• Optional rugged 50-position autoloader for automated unattended operation
• On-board diagnostics to minimize downtime

The RC612 multiphase carbon and hydrogen/moisture determinator quantifies the carbon and water present in various organic and inorganic samples, and identifies the source of several types of carbon content.

The RC612 features a state-of-the-art furnace control system, which allows the temperature of the dual-stage furnace to be programmed from near-ambient to 1100°C.

Depending on the application, multiple furnace steps can be programmed by the operator and the furnace purged with oxygen or nitrogen, creating oxidizing or inert conditions in which the carbon and water present is combusted or reacted. An afterburner furnace (nominally set to 850°C) and a secondary oxidation catalyst are included in the flow path to ensure full combustion/reaction of all evolved components. Infrared detection is used to quantify the result either as a weight percentage or as a coating weight (mg/in2).

When combusted in an oxidizing atmosphere (O2), all forms of carbon (except some carbides such as SiC) are converted to CO2. In contrast, organic forms of carbon produce both H2O and CO2. Thus the presence of organic carbon may be verified by finding coincident peaks in H2O and CO2. Water and carbonate are detected when the sample is combusted in an inert (N2) atmosphere, with the furnace catalyst temperatures at 120°C. In this mode, organic carbon is normally not detected. Additional sources of carbon can often be differentiated by the temperature at which they oxidize or volatilize.

A slow ramping temperature program, from 100°C to 1000°C at 20°C/min, can be used for the analysis of unknown samples. This type of analysis can be used to indicate the temperatures at which the differing forms of carbon are oxidized, thereby enabling the operator to optimize the furnace temperature program to provide more rapid quantitative results for each form of carbon present in this sample type.