Electricity + Control October 2019

ANALYTICAL INSTRUMENTATION

A white paper by Spectro Analytical Instruments

at a glance Dual side-on interface technology offers a single solution for ICP-OES analyses in applications s u c h a s wa t e r a n d wastewater and soils and sludges, reducing the complexity and cost of ICP-OES instrumentation inventory.

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T heway inwhich spectrometers handle optical plasma observation is an important variable. This report highlights recent developments in plasma viewing technology, driven by specific customer issues and requirements. They have led to the development of a new type of spectrometer that can offer advantages for environmental laboratories in applications handling analyses of water and wastewater, and soils and sludges, among others. A single ICP-OES answer Environmental laboratories takevarious approaches to selecting their analytical instruments inventory. A number of larger laboratories employ three ICP technologies. A mass spectrometer (ICP- MS) is used to handle analyses demanding the highest sensitivity, such as for drinking water or

other samples with trace elements at levels below those suitable for ICP-OES analysis. An axial-view OES instrument is used to handle jobs that do not necessarily require an ICP-MS but still demand high sensitivity, such as analyses of trace elements on air filters or in foodstuffs. And perhaps a dual- view OES analyser is used to provide axial-view or radial-view capabilities. It handles tasks where the accurate determination of alkali elements is important (for example, the analysis of nutritional elements in soil), or where the use of buffers to minimise existing matrix effects is undesirable due to the extra effort and cost entailed as well as the danger of contamination through reagent chemicals. Other labs may use only an MS plus a radial-view OES, and so on. Users have long sought to reduce some of this complexity and cost – and the demands placed on

Dual side-on interface technology.

Figure 1. Axial plasma observation.

34 Electricity + Control

OCTOBER 2019