Category: Product Feature

What does gas vortex shearing do in evaporation? Why should I care?

It is question and answer time and we are starting with TurboVap® evaporators and their use in an environmental lab.  The TurboVap® evaporation system by design utilizes a patented gas vortex shearing technology. You may be asking yourself, “what does that mean?” I know I did when I first heard about it!  Read on to learn more about what this does for your lab evaporation.

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Extractable Petroleum Hydrocarbons (EPH) Fractionation and Bottlenecks in the Laboratory

Anyone familiar with EPH methods such as those developed by the Massachusetts or New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection is familiar with the long and gruelling process of fractionation. For those unfamiliar, with EPH or Extractable Petroleum Hydrocarbons it is an extraction that essentially occurs in two distinct parts: the initial extraction & concentration and then the fractionation of that initial extract into the aromatic and aliphatic fractions followed by concentration again.  EPH is a method that replaces the TPH (Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons) or 8015 methods and allows for the calculation of specified carbon ranges giving you a more accurate assessment of potential health risks.

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A Better Way to Do Dishes

“I’m so tired of doing dishes!”

Between the dishes I wash at home and those I wash in the lab, that phrase leaves my lips no fewer than 3 times a day.  If I were to add up the number of hours I’ve spent washing dishes over the past year, I’d….well…it’s too upsetting, so I try not to do that calculation.  Let’s just say I’d have had time to become a seasoned marathon runner and to backpack across both Europe and parts of Australia.

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Which Media Type is Right for my Environmental Application?

In the world of solid phase extraction (SPE), the list of media that is available seems to be ever-growing.  From polymeric stationary phases, to silica-based media, and even molecularly imprinted polymers specifically designed for target analytes.  The possibilities seem endless.  Luckily for us, most EPA methods specify which media type is required for analysis, but what about methods that don’t specify?

For the methods which don’t specify the media you must use, how do you select your media type?

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Always in stock, with the performance you expect and the convenience you require

If you’re like most laboratories that are responsible for processing samples for organic compounds, you are on a constant quest to improve efficiency and operating costs while maintaining regulatory compliance and technician safety.

The Atlantic® ReadyDisks deliver the quality and ease-of-use you need to improve your laboratory efficiency without sacrificing data performance.

These single-use SPE disk holders are designed for use in extracting semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) from aqueous samples.  Constructed from high quality components and pre-assembled under carefully controlled conditions, ReadyDisks deliver the accuracy and reproducibility you need, in a format that’s ready for use straight out of the box.

Ready to perform your solid phase extractions with ease and convenience?

Sign up now and receive your complimentary C18 or DVB starter pack.

The Secret to Tackling Dirty Samples – Tips & Tricks for Filtering

Solid phase extraction is a powerful technique – it can be used to clean up the most challenging samples, and extract and preconcentrate hundreds of semivolatile organic compounds.  When performing the extraction, the goal is to get the entire sample to run through the extraction disk.  But in order to do that, the disk must have the chemical and physical capacity to handle your sample matrix.  If your disk becomes overwhelmed or clogs, you risk losing your sample and the chance to complete your extraction.

How do you prevent the disk from clogging?  Prefilters!

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What does a thermistor do anyway?

It is easier to understand something when you know what the actual word means.  Thermistor is a portmanteau (yes, sometimes I do pay attention to linguistics) of the words thermal and resistor.  This means that when a thermistor is heated, its resistance is either increased or decreased based on the properties of that particular thermistor.  This property makes it very useful for many different applications all over the world.  But thermistors are most useful, at least from my perspective, when they’re used in automated solid phase extraction systems.

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The Chemistry of SPE

New year – fresh start

If you’re like me, you start the new year off with a list of resolutions for the coming months – resolutions to be more fit or to secure a promotion at work or to reduce your carbon footprint. Whether you’re trying to improve your health or further your career, these are the types of goals that I like to refer to as getting “back to basics” because they require you to start with a solid foundation which you can build on to achieve success.

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Alternative to Sodium Sulfate Drying

If you are performing oil & grease analyses according to EPA Method 1664, you are familiar with the requirement to dry your extract prior to evaporation. There are those who might perform this step for reasons such as “this is the way we’ve always performed our extractions” or “the government-regulated method told me so” or “we have a giant container of sodium sulfate in the lab, so we might as well use it”; however, there is sound logic in removing water from your organic solvent prior to evaporating it.

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Disks or Cartridges – Which Should I Use?

Has anyone been setting up their lab to prepare their samples via solid phase extraction and paused to consider whether you should be using SPE disks or SPE cartridges? Don’t be shy – I’ve asked this question on more than one occasion and it is a valid inquiry.  If you are familiar with SPE (check out one of my recent blogs if you need a refresher), you know that the chemistry involved in your application will be the same, as long as you are using the same media (or stationary phase).

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