In a workshop entitled “Bringing the Lab to the Process Floor,” to be presented Tuesday, November 17 at 11:00 a.m. in Theater B, Jerry Rossman, product manager — ProcessLab & Automation for Metrohm USA (Booth 959; Riverview, Fla.), will showcase the capabilities of the fully customizable ProcessLab analysis system, which, he says, allows users “to carry out a diverse range of process analyses right at the process line — exactly where the results are needed for better, realtime process control.” Typical uses include the realtime analysis of etching baths in the steel industry, cleaning and degreasing baths used during electroplating, phosphating baths used in the automobile industry, and white, green and back liquors used during papermaking operations, and the monitoring of parameters for the quality control of liquid foodstuffs and process water, among others.
Unlike permanently mounted, online process analyzers (which tend to be dedicated to a single process or analysis), an ”at-line analyzer” such as ProcessLab provides analysis of multiple parameters, and allows samples to be taken manually or by means of an automated sample processor at numerous process stages or units. Peristaltic pumps with flowrates of 40, 120 or 320 mL/min are available.
With wet-chemistry analysis components hermetically separated from the customizable electronics in the base module, Ethernet and USB connectivity allow for spatially separated installation of the analysis module and control interface. “This gives users the flexibility they need to analyze samples wherever and whenever the need arises, even in hazardous environments and cleanroom settings,” says Rossman.
ProcessLab provides direct measurement of pH, redox potential and conductivity, and can carry out a variety of sample preparation techniques (including potentiometric titration, Karl Fischer titration, voltammetry and cyclic voltammetric stripping) that are required to measure other critical process parameters, such as acid content, free and total alkalinity and hardness, phosphate, chloride, chlorine and ammonia content, metals concentration (including iron, copper, nickel and zinc), sodium, calcium and fluoride levels, free and total SO2, sulfate, H2S and mercaptans, hydrogen peroxide, surfactants and more.
Rossman will also discuss the comprehensive control and database software that lets users automate their analyses (by managing, for instance, all configuration data, such as type of reagent, titer, electrode calibration data, calculation variables and constants), monitors calibration and titer-determination intervals, and alerts users before their reagents and calibrations are set to expire. He will also demonstrate the system’s “graphical method editor” capabilities, whereby individual analytical methods and sequences can be assembled using either simple drag-and-drop steps or by accessing a library of existing method templates. The system stores raw data and analysis results, displays live curves and the current status of the analytical sequence, and provides search and filter tools to ease data access and management.
“Faced with an overall lack of control in processes and shrinking resources in lab operations, many processes take place at sub-optimal conditions,” says Rossman. However, he notes that when armed with better realtime wet-chemistry analyses, users can extend process bath life and yields. This reduces costs related to raw material replacement and waste disposal, which in turn has positive environmental implications.
Suzanne Shelley