Automation of analysis

It is beyond the scope of this review to try to validate the different technical approaches only a few references will be mentioned  

A reversed-phase LC method for the determination of mercury simultaneously with other metals (as dithiooarbamates), utilizing electrochemical and spectrophotometric detection, was applied to industrial effluents by Bond and Wallace (1984). See also Munaf et al. (1990) in the section High performance liquid chromatography . 

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The main aims in environmental analysis are sensitivity (due to the low concentration of microcontaminants to be determined), selectivity (due to the complexity of the sample) and automation of analysis (to increase the throughput in control analysis). These three aims are achieved by multidimensional chromatography sensitivity is enhanced by large-volume injection techniques combined with peak compression, selectivity is obviously enhanced if one uses two separations with different selectivi-ties instead of one, while on-line techniques reduce the number of manual operations in the analytical procedure. 

These installations of on-line process analytical equipment operated over extended periods of time with the high degree of dependability required in the process environment. Considerable cost savings in process development time were achieved through automation of analysis. 

Synthesis of appropriate model compounds for comparison and automation of analysis by combined LC/MS (15, 16) are two promising approaches. 

The automation of analysis, sometimes with the aid of laboratory robots, has become increasingly important. For example, it enables a series of bench analyses to be carried out more rapidly and efficiently, and with better precision, while in other cases continuous monitoring of an analyte in a production process is possible. Two of the most important developments in recent years have been the incorporation of microprocessor control into analytical instruments and their interfacing with micro- and minicomputers. The microprocessor has brought improved instrument control, performance and,through the ability to monitor the condition of component parts, easier routine maintenance. Operation by relatively inexperienced personnel can... 

Samples are detected by the same techniques as those used in HPLC and CE. The uses of on-column detection with UV-Vis spectrophotometers and lasers and postcolumn detection with mass spectrometers are well establish-ed. Instruments used for CEC are generally the same as those used for CE and consequently have capabilities for full automation of analysis and data processing of the results. 

The automation of analysis in this way has an obvious benefit in increased efficiency. The main benefit however is in terms of completeness and consistency of the tmalysis. Care has been taken in the implementation to ensure that all analysis steps are logged, and that the parts analysed can be distinguished fi om those remaining to be analysed. 

As mentioned above, there is a lack of well-developed numerical tools or methods to simulate certain phases like tsunami disaster and human responses. The incompatibility of inputs and outputs of different numerical tools is also a problem in integrating numerical tools. The outputs of most of the necessary numerical tools, which are developed in different disciplines, may not have consistent spatial and temporal resolutions required for subsequent analysis. To address this problem, close collaborations with the developers of relevant simulation tools are necessary. Being the analysis domains very large, automation of analysis model construction is essential, which is a challenging task automated constmc-tion of suitable analysis model for each of millions of structures in a metropolis, based on available CAD or GIS data, is not trivial. 

Application of magnetic fluids in ultrasonic non-destructive testing [1-3] opens the real perspectives for automation of the testing methods, based on the surface waves. This report presents the results of investigations aimed at the creation of the transducer of the surface waves for the automated control. The basic attention is drawn to the analysis of the position of the front meniscus of the contact liquid when the surface waves excite through the slot gap. 

A R, D P Dolata and K Prout 1990. Automated Conformational Analysis and Structure Generation Algorithms for Molecular Perception. Journal of Chemical Information and Computer Science 30 316-324. 

Time, Cost, and Equipment As with other optical spectroscopic methods, fluorescent and phosphorescent methods provide a rapid means of analysis and are capable of automation. Fluorometers are relatively inexpensive, ranging from several... 

Chemical kinetic methods of analysis continue to find use for the analysis of a variety of analytes, most notably in clinical laboratories, where automated methods aid in handling a large volume of samples. In this section several general quantitative applications are considered. 

Time, Cost, and Equipment Automated chemical kinetic methods of analysis provide a rapid means for analyzing samples, with throughputs ranging from several hundred to several thousand determinations per hour. The initial start-up costs, however, may be fairly high because an automated analysis requires a dedicated instrument designed to meet the specific needs of the analysis. When handled manually, chemical kinetic methods can be accomplished using equipment and instrumentation routinely available in most laboratories. Sample throughput, however, is much lower than with automated methods. 

Finally, FIA is an attractive technique with respect to demands on time, cost, and equipment. When employed for automated analyses, FIA provides for very high sampling rates. Most analyses can be operated with sampling rates of 20-120 samples/h, but rates as high as 1700 samples/h have been realized. Because the volume of the flow injection manifold is small, typically less than 2 mb, consumption of reagents is substantially less than with conventional methods. This can lead to a significant decrease in the cost per analysis. Flow injection analysis requires additional equipment, beyond that used for similar conventional methods of analysis, which adds to the expense of the analysis. On the other hand, flow injection analyzers can be assembled from equipment already available in many laboratories. 

The graphics capabiUties of the CAD/CAM environment offer a number of opportunities for data manipulation, pattern recognition, and image creation. The direct appHcation of computer graphics to the automation of graphic solution techniques, such as a McCabe-Thiele binary distillation method, or to the preparation of data plots are obvious examples. Graphic simulation has been appHed to the optimisation of chemical process systems as a technique for energy analysis (84). 

Compatibility physieal influenee with tool ehemieal methods of sample preparation and the stage of determination based on any prineiple of an analytieal signal generation, the opportunity of automation of a sample preparation stage, eontrol, modeling of eonditions of analytieal proeess opens prospeets for their use in the analysis of food-stuffs, environment objeets, geologieal samples, ete. 

On-line SPE-LC has been widely used in environmental analysis to solve the problems caused by the low concentrations of the analytes to be detected and also to automate the analysis (42-44). 

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