Automated Thermobalances

The obvious advantage of the automated thermobalance system over existing instruments is the ability to determine the mass-loss curves of eight successive samples. Operation of the instrument is completely automatic, and once the cycle is begun the instrument does not require the attention of the operator until the eighth sample curve is completed. The instrument should find use for the routine TG examination of a large number of samples, each to be studied under identical thermal conditions. Because the system is completely automated, data reduction or control by a small digital computer could easily be accomplished (see Chapter 14.) 

The carriers were constructed of punched nickel sheet and were fitted with 

---

Figure 3.32. An automated thermobalance, (a) Balance, furnace, and sample changer mechanism (ft) furnace and sample holder (50). ( ) A. gas flow-meter B. furnace C. sample-holder disk D. cooling fan E, Cahn Model rtl recording balance F. balance platform, (ft) A. gas inlet tube B, thermocouples C. furnace heater windings and insulation D. sample container E. sample-holder disk F. ceramic sample probe.

---