This International Standard describes two methods for the determination of the total moisture content of hard coals. Depending on the coal rank, there may be systematic differences between the results obtained by applying different methods on subsamples of the same sample. Methods using a nitrogen atmosphere are suitable for all hard coals; methods with drying in air are only suitable for hard coals not susceptible to oxidation.
NOTE The term "not susceptible to oxidation" cannot be defined easily. Usually, coals very high in rank are not
oxidized under the conditions described in this standard. For all other types of coal this has to be verified by experiments.