Reaffirmed 2023

NATIONAL FOREWORD

This Indian Standard which is identical method with ISO 4317 : 2011 ‘Surface-active agents and detergents — Determination of water content — Karl Fischer methods’ issued by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) was adopted by the Bureau of Indian Standards on recommendation of the Soaps and other surface active agents Sectional Committee and approval of the Chemical Division Council.

Maintaining an absolutely correct water content in detergents is a critical requirement. The physical state of detergents is easily affected by prevailing environmental conditions. The presence of excessive moisture leads to the detergent powder turning lumpy. While adopting ISO standards on different test methods, it is observed that there is no Indian standard on determination of water content in detergent based surfactants. Considering the importance of test method for determination of water content in surfactants and to follow the uniform practices globally, the Committee felt that it would be more convenient to prepare this standard method by adoption of ISO 4317 on dual number basis. This method is Karl Fisher method which is a classic titration method to determine trace amounts of water in a sample. Karl Fisher is selective for water, because the titration reaction consumes water quantitatively.

The text of ISO Standard has been approved as suitable for publication as an Indian Standard without deviations. Certain terminologies and conventions are, however, not identical to those used in Indian Standards. Attention is particularly drawn to the following:

a) Wherever the words ‘International Standard’ appear referring to this standard, they should be read as ‘Indian Standard’.

b) Comma (,) has been used as a decimal marker, while in Indian Standards, the current practice is to use a point (.) as the decimal marker.