Automation Equipment

With equipment now available, it is possible to completely automate a filtration station. By simply pressing a button, the filter can be 

Drained with cake in place after differential pressure reaches a predetermined limit Filled with wash liquid and the cake washed Drained 

During the operation, protection can be provided against the following contingencies, among others  

Incomplete filling in any phase of the filter operation Filter going on-stream before precoat clears up Poor clarity when on-stream Low or high pressures Too thick filter cakes Power failures 

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Automated equipment for the addition of hquids can be worked into the overall mixing plant when necessary. For dust-reduction purposes, a volumetric method of metering is satisfac tory. However, should a critical batch ingredient be added in hquid form, a more precise method of metering may be necessary. 

Also important is the interplay between different sensors, controllers, automation equipment, and objects regulated by the control equipment. The requirements of pumps, fans, batteries, heat exchanger, valves, motors, etc. in standard sizes may greatly differ from the theoretical calculations. Because of this fact, the control equipment, in addition to satisfactory control, must be capable of correcting the differences between the calculated and delivered subproducts. 

Wiping Paint is applied conventionally, then paint is wiped off Paint is either totally removed, remaining only in recessed areas, or is partially removed for special effects such as woodgraining. Standard spray-paint setup with a wipe station following. For low production, wipe can be manual. Very highspeed, automated equipment available. 

Dynamic shear moduli are conveniently determined with automated equipment, for instance, with the torsion pendulum. However, moduli derived from dynamic tests are often higher than the results from static tests for lack of relaxation. Examples are shown in Table 3.3. Young s moduli of the polymers A, B, C, D, derived from tensile tests (frequency 0.01 Hz) are compared with shear moduli S determined with the torsion pendulum (frequency > 1 Hz). For rubberlike materials is 3S/E = 1, according to Eq. 

Sanq>ling With Capillaries. Earlier it was pointed out that with the aid of a constriction pipette a sample can be measured accurately. A similar effect can be obtained by allows ing the serum to enter a capillary open at both ends. The serum will reach the opposite end of the capillary if it is held at an angle and then stoppered, and if the capillary has been carefully calibrated an accurate volume can be measured out. Such capillaries are now available commercially, and have been in use in automated equipment in the authors laboratory for at least 10 years. It is now possible to take the capillary and empty its contents into a container for analysis, or into a stream for the purpose of determining any of the materials which can be determined with the autoanalyzer. Figure 33 shows an instrument which is used for this purpose (58). 

Automated equipment reduces exposure by eliminating handling of contaminated surfaces. 

Although this procedure may sound complicated to some organic chemists, and in fact details need to be consulted, antibodies can be raised to almost any compound of interest. Moreover, simple automated equipment comprising a plate washer and plate absorbance reader is all that is necessary. About 1,000 ee determinations are possible per day, precision amounting to 9%.102... 

A second strategy relies on parallel experimentation. In this case, the same experimental step is performed over n samples in n separated vessels at the same time. Robotic equipment such as automated liquid-handlers, multi-well reactors and auto-samplers for the analysis are used to perform the repetitive tasks in parallel. This automated equipment often works in a serial fashion as, for example, a liquid handler with a single dispensing syringe filling the wells of a microtiter plate, one after another. However, the chemical formation of the catalyst or the catalytic reaction are run at the same time, assuming that their rate is slow compared to the time needed to add all the components. The whole process appears parallel for the human user whose intervention is reduced. 

If automated equipment is used for sampling and the apparatus is modified, validation of the modified apparatus is needed to show that there is no change in the agitation characteristics of the test. ... 

Office automation equipment such as photocopiers, prisms, mirrors, polygon mirrors, optical films... 

Platinum is the most popular choice of inert electrode for electroanalysis. It will also be clear from the discussion above that electrodes made of platinum should be cleaned thoroughly and as often as possible. Unfortunately, many analytical laboratories employ automated equipment, so cleaning occurs sporadically at best. Worse still, in many industrial laboratories, where the cost and number of each sample are always a consideration, the frequency of electrode cleaning will be a commercial decision. 

Calculations and data transfers shall be controlled in a systematic manner. Nowadays nearly all analytical measurements are made with computer-aided or automated equipment. The laboratory shall ensure the proper functioning to maintain the integrity of test and cahbration data. 

Standardization of a Titrant For wet chemistry analytical methods, a titration is often used and the titrant, or the solution to which an unknown sample is compared, must be standardized. This can be done by comparing it with another standard. The important thing here is that the standard with which it is compared is ultimately traced to a SRM. The procedure utilizes volumetric glassware heavily, and thus the analyst must be assured that these are properly calibrated, as discussed above. Auto-titrators can be used (Figure 5.4). In this case, the automated equipment can be calibrated against manual equipment, i.e., volume readings obtained with the auto-titrator must match the volume readings obtained with a calibrated buret for the same sample. If they do not match (within accepted limits), the auto-titrator must be taken out of service and repaired, just like the defective balance. 

For nonstandard methods, the standard 17025 lists 11 items required for the procedure. Methods must be validated (see chapter 7) and measurement uncertainty estimated (see chapter 6). In subsection 5.4, reference is made to the control of data, particularly in relation to electronic or automated equipment. 

Generation of a virtual combinatorial library by finding substituents of a custom scaffold that can be accommodated in the binding site of a molecular target or meet other 3D structural criteria. Once the virtual library is synthesized in the computer, individual members can be selected using structural or additional criteria and synthesized using automated equipment. 

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