Environment

Ultraviolet & Visible Spectrometry

Ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy or ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry (UV-Vis or UV/Vis) refers to absorption spectroscopy or reflectance spectroscopy in the ultraviolet-visible spectral region. This means it uses light in the visible and adjacent ranges. The absorption or reflectance in the visible range directly affects the perceived color of the chemicals involved. In this region of the electromagnetic spectrum, atoms and molecules undergo electronic transitions. UV/Vis spectroscopy is routinely used in analytical chemistry for the quantitative determination of different analyses, such as transition metal ions, highly conjugated organic compounds, and biological macromolecules. Spectroscopic analysis is commonly carried out in solutions but solids and gases may also be studied.

Mass Spectrometry

Mass spectrometry (MS) is an analytical technique that ionizes chemical species and sorts the ions based on their mass-to-charge ratio. In simpler terms, a mass spectrum measures the masses within a sample. Mass spectrometry is used in many different fields and is applied to pure samples as well as complex mixtures. A mass spectrum is a plot of the ion signal as a function of the mass-to-charge ratio. These spectra are used to determine the elemental or isotopic signature of a sample, the masses of particles and of molecules, and to elucidate the chemical structures of molecules, such as peptides and other chemical compounds. Mass spectrometry has both qualitative and quantitative uses. These include identifying unknown compounds, determining the isotopic composition of elements in a molecule, and determining the structure of a compound by observing its fragmentation. Other uses include quantifying the amount of a compound in a sample or studying the fundamentals of gas phase ion chemistry (the chemistry of ions and neutrals in a vacuum). MS is now in very common use in analytical laboratories that study physical, chemical, or biological properties of a great variety of compounds.

Ion Chromatography

Ion chromatography (or ion-exchange chromatography) is a chromatography process that separates ions and polar molecules based on their affinity to the ion exchanger. It works on almost any kind of charged molecule—including large proteins, small nucleotides, and amino acids. The two types of ion chromatography are anion-exchange and cation-exchange. It is often used in protein purification, water analysis, and quality control.

HPLC & UPLC

High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), is a technique in analytical chemistry used to separate, identify, and quantify each component in a mixture. It relies on pumps to pass a pressurized liquid solvent containing the sample mixture through a column filled with a solid adsorbent material. Each component in the sample interacts slightly differently with the adsorbent material, causing different flow rates for the different components and leading to the separation of the components as they flow out the column. HPLC has been used for manufacturing (e.g. during the production process of pharmaceutical and biological products), legal (e.g. detecting performance enhancement drugs in urine), research (e.g. separating the components of a complex biological sample, or of similar synthetic chemicals from each other), and medical (e.g. detecting vitamin D levels in blood serum) purposes.

Gas Chromatography

Gas chromatography (GC) is a common type of chromatography used in analytical chemistry for separating and analysing compounds that can be vaporised without decomposition. Typical uses of GC include testing the purity of a particular substance, or separating the different components of a mixture (the relative amounts of such components can also be determined). In some situations, GC may help in identifying a compound. In preparative chromatography, GC can be used to prepare pure compounds from a mixture.

TOC Analysis

Total organic carbon (TOC) is the amount of carbon found in an organic compound and is often used as a non-specific indicator of water quality or cleanliness of pharmaceutical manufacturing equipment.

ICP-OES

Inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES), is an analytical technique used for the detection of chemical elements. It is a type of emission spectroscopy that uses the inductively coupled plasma to produce excited atoms and ions that emit electromagnetic radiation at wavelengths characteristic of a particular element. It is a flame technique with a flame temperature in a range from 6000 to 10000 K. The intensity of this emission is indicative of the concentration of the element within the sample.

Atomic Absorption Spectrometry

Atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) is a spectroanalytical procedure for the quantitative determination of chemical elements using the absorption of optical radiation (light) by free atoms in the gaseous state. In analytical chemistry the technique is used for determining the concentration of a particular element (the analyse) in a sample to be analysed. AAS can be used to determine over 70 different elements in solution, or directly in solid samples via electrothermal vaporisation, and is used in pharmacology, biophysics and toxicology research.

pH Meters

The pH value of foods has a direct effect on the growth of microorganisms and therefore on food quality and safety. For this reason, many companies use the pH value as a quality characteristic for evaluating their food. For example, the pH value is of great importance in the manufacture of meat, sausage, delicatessen and dairy products. The pH value is an important quality parameter in the food sector. It particularly affects the properties of meat and meat-based products, especially with regard to water binding capacity, taste, colour, tenderness and shelf life. In the bakery sector, the acidity of the sourdough can be determined by means of the pH value. In the case of products such as salad dressings, the pH value helps to ensure consistent quality or consistent acidity of the product.

Turbidimeters

Turbidity is the cloudiness or haziness of a fluid caused by large numbers of individual particles that are generally invisible to the naked eye, similar to smoke in air. The measurement of turbidity is a key test of water quality. Fluids can contain suspended solid matter consisting of particles of many different sizes. While some suspended material will be large enough and heavy enough to settle rapidly to the bottom of the container if a liquid sample is left to stand (the settable solids), very small particles will settle only very slowly or not at all if the sample is regularly agitated or the particles are colloidal. These small solid particles cause the liquid to appear turbid.

Internal Air Quality

The carbon dioxide concentration and the indoor air quality in interiors are deemed to be the most important indicators that the quality of the indoor air is good enough, when people themselves are the main source of emissions. Poor indoor air quality leads to tiredness, lack of concentration and can even bring about illnesses. The CO2 concentrations should therefore not exceed 1,000 ppm as a rule.

Noise Level Meters

Almost everybody has come across this: background noises which easily prevent you from working and from concentrating on something. If the noise level is high at work, staff efficiency is reduced – no matter whether the noise pollution is caused by equipment or colleagues.

Vacuum Pumps

A vacuum pump is a device that removes gas molecules from a sealed volume in order to leave behind a partial vacuum. Vacuum filtration is one of the most common applications used for sample preparation in chemistry, microbiology, wastewater control and other analytical processes.

Alarm Gas Detectors

The ALTAIR Gas Detectors are capable of measuring from 1 to 6 gases simultaneously and is now available with integrated PID sensor for VOC detection. Driven by advanced MSA XCell® Sensor Technology, the ALTAIR Gas Detector delivers faster response time, better stability, accuracy, longer service life, and cost savings over the life of the instrument.

Chemical Fume Hoods

Is a type of local ventilation device that is designed to limit exposure to hazardous or toxic fumes, vapors or dusts.

Water Stills

A still is an apparatus used to distill liquid mixtures by heating to selectively boil and then cooling to condense the vapor. A still uses the same concepts as a basic distillation apparatus, but on a much larger scale. Stills have been used to produce water for Injection (WFI) for pharmaceutical use, generally to separate and purify different chemicals, and to produce distilled beverages containing ethanol.

Pure Water Systems

Pure water, also known as purified water, is water from a source that has removed all impurities. Distilled water is the most common form of pure water. … Pure water can be used in cooking, drinking, scientific studies and laboratories.

Ultrasonic Baths

Ultrasonic cleaning is a process that uses ultrasound (usually from 20–400 kHz) and an appropriate cleaning solvent (sometimes ordinary tap water) to clean items. The ultrasound can be used with just water, but use of a solvent appropriate for the item to be cleaned and the type of soiling present enhances the effect.

Chemical Oxygen Demand

In environmental chemistry, the chemical oxygen demand (COD) is an indicative measure of the amount of oxygen that can be consumed by reactions in a measured solution. It is commonly expressed in mass of oxygen consumed over volume of solution which in SI units is milligrams per litre (mg/L). A COD test can be used to easily quantify the amount of organics in water. The most common application of COD is in quantifying the amount of oxidizable pollutants found in surface water (e.g. lakes and rivers) or wastewater. COD is useful in terms of water quality by providing a metric to determine the effect an effluent will have on the receiving body, much like biochemical oxygen demand (BOD).

Biological Oxygen Demand

Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD, also called biological oxygen demand) is the amount of dissolved oxygen needed (i.e. demanded) by aerobic biological organisms to break down organic material present in a given water sample at certain temperature over a specific time period. The BOD value is most commonly expressed in milligrams of oxygen consumed per litre of sample during 5 days of incubation at 20 °C and is often used as a surrogate of the degree of organic pollution of water. BOD can be used as a gauge of the effectiveness of wastewater treatment plants.

Dissolved Oxygen Meters

Oxygen saturation (symbol SO2) is a relative measure of the concentration of oxygen that is dissolved or carried in a given medium as a proportion of the maximal concentration that can be dissolved in that medium. It can be measured with a dissolved oxygen probe such as an oxygen sensor or an optode in liquid media, usually water. The standard unit of oxygen saturation is percent (%).

Conductivity Meters

An electrical conductivity meter (EC meter) measures the electrical conductivity in a solution. It is commonly used in hydroponics, aquaculture and freshwater systems to monitor the amount of nutrients, salts or impurities in the water.

Rotary Evaporators

A rotary evaporator is a device used in chemical laboratories for the efficient and gentle removal of solvents from samples by evaporation. When referenced in the chemistry research literature, description of the use of this technique and equipment may include the phrase “rotary evaporator”, though use is often rather signaled by other language.Rotary evaporators are also used in molecular cooking for the preparation of distillates and extracts.

Solvent Extraction

Solvent extraction, also known as Liquid–liquid extraction or partitioning, is a method to separate a compound based on the solubility of its parts. This is done using two liquids that don’t mix, for example water and an organic solvent. Solvent extraction is used in the processing of perfumes, vegetable oil, or biodiesel. It is also used to recover plutonium from irradiated nuclear fuel, a process which is usually called nuclear reprocessing. The recovered plutonium can then be re-used as nuclear fuel. In this process one of the components of a mixture dissolves in a particular liquid and the other component is separated as a residue by filtration.

Refrigerators & Freezers

A refrigerator is a popular household appliance that consists of a thermally insulated compartment and a heat pump (mechanical, electronic or chemical) that transfers heat from the inside of the fridge to its external environment so that the inside of the fridge is cooled to a temperature below the ambient temperature of the room. The lower temperature lowers the reproduction rate of bacteria, so the refrigerator reduces the rate of spoilage. A refrigerator maintains a temperature a few degrees above the freezing point of water. Optimum temperature range for perishable food storage is 3 to 5 °C (37 to 41 °F). A similar device that maintains a temperature below the freezing point of water is called a freezer.