January, 1978 EQUIPMENT NEWS 27 Equipment News Automatic Liquid Samplers A new range of vacuum operated, discrete interval, liquid samplers for pollution monitor- ing has been introduced. Four units are avail- able, giving a choice of 12 or 24 bottles of 0.5- or 1-1 capacity. The samplers are prepared for use by creating a vacuum in the bottles, using either an electric or hand-operated pump, and sealed by manual closure of a pinch valve.The valves are opened sequentially a t pre-selected intervals. A system of interchangeable gear-boxes permits ten different sampling intervals, with a maxi- mum delay before initiation of 6-288 h. Arkon Instruments Ltd., Whaddon Works, Cromwell Road, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. Graphite Furnace The HGX-2100 is a low cost, flameless sampling system for use with atomic-absorption spectro- photometers.Solution volumes from a few tenths of a microlitre up to 100 p l can be handled, although in many instances solid samples, for example polymers, can be atomised directly. An optional temperature programmer permits automatic control of all three operational phases. Perkin-Elmer J,td., Beaconsfield, Bucking- hamshire.Portable Infrared Gas Analyser The Miran 104 portable gas analyser is a British development of the familiar Miran 1A. A new, lightweight, 14.5-m, variable path length gas cell is incorporated. Wilks Scientific Ltd., 64 Burners Lane, Kiln Farm, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire. New Thin-layer Chromatographic Plates A new type of TLC plate has a zone of inactive, large pore size silica gel, about 2.4 cm wide, along its edge.Samples can be applied quickly to the zone and not necessarily in a narrow band. When the plate is immersed in solvent, with the zone a t the bottom, the sample moves with the ascending solvent front and is therefore pre-28 EQUIPMENT NEWS Proc. Analyt. Div. Chem. SOC. sented to the active silica gel 60 layer in an extremely narrow band.Products available in silica gel 60 are sizes 20 x 20 cm and 10 x 20 cm, and in silica gel 60, 20 x 20 cm and 10 x 20 cm. Anderman & Co. Ltd., Central Avenue, East Molesey, Surrey, KT8 OQZ. IMT Inverted Microscope An IMT inverted biological microscope has a number of easily attached accessories for use in techniques such as bright field, phase contrast, differential interference contrast, polarising and fluorescence microscopy.Special long working distance condensers and objectives are incorp- orated. A. Gallenkamp & Co. Ltd., P.O. Box 290, Christopher Street, London, ECBP 2ER. Micro pipette The Socorex ultra-micro syringe pipette will deliver 5 x 1-p1 aliquots automatically. Each delivery is signalled by a “click-in, ” making visual observation unnecessary.Carry-over is infinitesimal, rendering it unnecesssary to change the capillary for each pipetting. Adaptors are supplied permitting 1, 2, 3 or 4 p1 to be, dispensed with one full stroke of the plunger. Camlab Ltd., Nuffield Road, Cambridge, CB4 1TH. Ultraviolet Monitor The J-260 digital radiometer is a portable, direct- reading instrument for automatic measurement of ultraviolet intensities.Digital readout in radiometric units is within the range 1 pW cm-2 to 199.9 pW cm-2 with an accuracy of &l.O% full scale. The radiometer is available with interchange- able cosine-corrected sensors for measuring a t 254, 297 or 365 nm. Ultra-Violet Products Ltd., 4 Andover Road, Winchester, Hampshire, SO23 7BS. Colour-matching Cabinet The UVP CM-100 colour-matching cabinet is designed to aid the visual identification of potential colour mis-matches of paints, dyes, inks, textiles and plastics.The colour samples are matched under a white daylight lamp and then confirmed under a pink ultraviolet lamp. If matching persists, the two colours will match visually under all lighting conditions. Ultra-Violet Producrs Ltd., 4 Andover Road, Winchester, Hampshire, SO23 7BS.Laser-beam Expanders Matched pairs of input/output lenses to provide expansion ratios of 5 x , l o x , 25x and 50x over a wide wavelength range are now available. The three smaller ones are Keplerian, allowing spatial filtering, while the larger is Galilean to reduce tube length to a usable size. All of the expanders accept input beam diameters up to 2 mm.The throughput at 2 mm is 86% and 99.8% at 1 mm beam diameter. Melles Griot BV, Nieuwe Kade 10, Postbus 567, Arnhem, The Netherlands. Radiation Alarm Monitor The PW 4544/07 alarm monitor is designed to ensure a safe working environment in X-ray analytical laboratories. It provides continuous confirmation by detection of the “soft” X-rays used in analytical equipment.On exceeding the pre-set radiation level a warning is given by red light and by buzzer. A remote alarm system can also be connected. Philips Industries, Lelyweg 1, Almelo, The Netherlands. X-ray Diffraction Designed for laboratories requiring inexpensive X-ray diffraction equipment, the PW 1720 is a table-top generator with a standard Philips tube shield, which can accommodate single-crystal goniometers and Debye - Scherrer, Guinier or Universal flat-plate cameras.A vertical goni- ometer for diffractometry can also be fitted. The basic generator has full tube current stabilisation, continuously adjustable between 5 and 60 mA. High voltage is continuously adjustable between 10 and 55 kV peak. NV Philips Gloeilampenfabrieken, Eindhoven, The Netherlands.Thermocouple Reference Units Two solid-state controlled thermocouple refer- ence units, TPE Icestat and TPE Icerac, are available for laboratory or general industrial use. The temperature reference is a copper block, with holes for 60 reference thermocouples, con- trolled at 0 “C. The Icestat is a free-standing unit for continuous laboratory use, while the Icerac, which is electrically similar, is rack mounted for industrial applications.Both units comply with protection Class I1 of VDE 0411, permitt- ing the use of uninsulated thermocouple ele- ments. Felmount Ltd., Davidson House, Upper St. John Street, Lichfield, Staffordshire.January, 1978 EQUIPMENT NEWS 29 Carbon Dioxide Analyser The Miran-101-S portable carbon dioxide analyser has recently been introduced, which can measure carbon dioxide in ambient air at levels (&lo%) that are potentially toxic, or higher levels (0-100%) for other applications.The Miran-101-S is a selective wavelength infrared (SWIR) analyser, incorporating a 4.25- pm fixed band pass filter for interference-free carbon dioxide measurements. It reads out. directly in concentration and features push- button selection of a high or low range.Wilks Scientific Corporation, 140 Water Street, Box 449, South Nonvalk, CI 06856. USA. Specific Ion Meter The Model 901 microprocessor ionalyser, a specific ion meter, is a research pH/mV meter and a direct-reading digital concentration meter, and can perform a range of electrode analyses without the use of calibration curves. Operation of the 901 is simple enough to allow it to be used for routine quality-control measurements.Use of a wide range of electrode methods is possible, including direct measurement, known addition, known subtraction and sample addi- tion. Volume corrections are automatically calculated. MSE Scientific Instruments, Manor Royal, Crawley, Sussex. Electrophoresis Power Supply The Model 500 Electrophoresis Power Supply offers constant voltage from 1-500 V d.c., and constant current from 1-200 mA, with a maxi- mum power level of 100 W.Features include automatic voltage/current crossover control, which sets limits on both current and voltage at the beginning of each run. When the limit on one is reached, the unit automatically “crosses-over” to control the limit on the other.This facility permits high initial current levels without the danger of over- heating the gel later in the run, and is useful for iso-electric focusing. Bio-Rad Laboratories Ltd., 27 Homesdale Road, Bromley, Kent, BR2 9LY. Digital Multimeter The HP 3435 DMM is a five-function instru- ment, which is designed to handle a wide range of voltage, current and resistance measurements.It can measure directly voltage to 1 200 V d.c. or ’1 200 V r.m.s. a.c. from 30 Hz to 100 kHz and resistance down to 10 mQ, all with auto- matic range selection. Hewlett Packard Ltd., King Street Lane, Winnersh, Wokingham, Berkshire, RG11 5AR. Sterilising Filter Cartridge Acroflow 121” is a new membrane filter cartridge developed to withstand sterilisation by steam or autoclaving.It consists of a 0.2-pm pleated filter in a polysulphone and polypropylene supported cartridge, with a polyester membrane protector and pleat drainage layer. It can be autoclaved, sterilised by steam within the pro- duction line, or by exposure to dry heat, and complies with the non-fibre-releasing regulations of the American FDA. The cartridges have a back-pressure capabi- lity of 2.8 kg cm-2 (40 p.s.i.).The membrane filter is a high-temperature aromatic polymer. Cartridge lengths of 24.9 or 49.8 cm are avail- able. Gelman Hawksley Ltd., 12 Peter Road, Lancing, Sussex, BN15 8TH. pH Meters Some new pH meters have controls arrayed vertically on the front panel and digital read- outs located near the top. For right- or left- handed operation, the electrode support device can be readily positioned at either side of the instrument.The models differ in degree of accuracy, the Model 125 having three-digit readout with resolution of 0.01 pH while the Model 130 has four-digit readout with resolution of 0.001 pH. Corning Medical, Corning Ltd., Halstead, Essex, CO9 2DX. Keyed Quick-connects Keyed Quick-connects include a new, positive, mechanical lockout system, which prevents accidental intermixing of fluids in multiple-line applications as no line is interchangeable with any other. The “keyed” feature has been combined with the standard Swagelok Quick-connect, which operates with an easy push -pull action.Eight different keys are available, each one numbered and colour coded. Stems and bodies of unmatched keys will not couple with each other or interchange with any other type of quick-connect .Also, an attempt to couple unlike keys will not open the automatic shut-off system and allow accidental flow. The new keyed quick-connects are available in brass and 316 stainless steel, with Swagelok and male or female NPT end connections in30 EQUIPMENT NEWS Proc. Analyt. Div.Chern. SOC. 1/8 in, 1/4 in, 3/8 in and 1/2 in sizes. Middlesex, H148 8 JP. Techmation Ltd., 58 Edgware Way, Edgware, Liquid Chromatography Equipment A new range of high-performance, solvent- resistant columns and accessories for liquid chromatography, designed for use in aqueous and organic solvents at pressures up to 10 kgcm-2, has been developed. A11 items are easy to clean and fully autoclavable.They are available as a complete system and as indi- vidual items. Pharmacia (GB) Ltd., Paramount House, 75 Uxbridge Road, London, W5 5SS. Protein Assay System A single-reagent, 5-min Protein Assay System is now available. The new technique is a dye binding assay, based on the differential colour change of a dye in response to varying con- centrations of protein.The system is free from many of the interfer- ences associated with classical techniques, such as ammonia, mercaptoethanol, EDTA and reducing sugars. Bio-Rad Laboratories Ltd., 27 Homesdale Road, Bromley, Kent, BR2 9LY. Radioimmuno Assay System The Quantimune T3 Iiadioimmunoassay System, a thyroid function test system, uses solid-phase technology, ensuring high precision by having only three pipetting steps and eliminating transfer of solutions.The Quanta-Count T3 Uptake System utilises an ion-exchange tablet instead of a disposable ion-exchange column or solvent extraction technique. A 2.5-ml volume of T3-1251 is added to 100 p1 of sample, followed by an ion-exchange tablet, and allowed to incubate for 10 min. The mixture is then agitated and centrifuged, the supernatant discarded by decantation, and the ion-exchange pellet counted.Rio-Rad Laboratories Ltd., 27 Homesdale Road, Bromley, Kent, BR2 QLY. 0 rganoelemental Spectro Standards SpectroStandards for atomic-absorption, flame- emission, X-ray fluorescence and optical-emiss- ion spectroscopy now include an organoele- mentaI series. Over 35 single-element Spectro- Standards formulated to 5 000 p.p.rn.are avail- able for trace-metal analysis, lubricant-additive chemistry, fuel oil additives and many other applications requiring non-aqueous reference standards. A multi-element SpectroStandard consisting of proportional amounts of calcium, barium, zinc, phosphorus and magnesium is also available. Each SpectroStandard has a shelf- life of at least 1 year.Chemplex Industries Inc., 140 Marbledale Road, Eastchester, N.Y. 10707, USA. Chromatographic Gel A new gel, Poly(A)-Sepharose 4B, for affinity chromatography of Poly(U)-containing iiucleic acids (e.g., hnRNA and viral RNA) or Poly(A)-specific proteins (e.g., messenger ribo- nucleoprotein) and RNA-specific proteins (e.g., RNA polymerase and protein involved in tubulin activity) is now available. Pharmacia Fine Chemicals AB, Box 195, S75104 Uppsala 1, Sweden. Liquid Scintillator Cocktails A range of Liquid Scintillator cocktails has been introduced, the Ready Solv cocktails. The three aqueous cocktails are Ready Solv EP (economy pre-mixed), Ready Solv FP (general- purpose “constant counting” cocktail) and Ready Solv HP (high-performance optimum pre-mixed cocktail, particularly suitable in research situations that require high constant counting efficiency). Ready Solv NA is a non- aqueous pre-mixed cocktail. A new range of four specialised solutions developed for specific applications and sample types is also available ; Filter-Solv (a complete pre-mixed cocktail that dissolves and/or makes membrane filters transparent), Gradient-Solv (pre-mixed, designed to handle radioactive samples on caesiu? chloride gradients), and Tissue Solubiliser (fast, economical tissue and gel digester that can handle a large amount of aqueous material in tissue samples). Beckman-RIIC Ltd., Glenrothes, Fife.