Abstract:
A sampling device comprises a receptacle (22) having an inner material receiving space (40) defined by a side wall portion (36) and a bottom wall portion (38) and having a receptacle opening (42); and a sample container (10') being adapted to close the receptacle opening (42) when collocated with the receptacle (22), and includes: a sample receiving portion (14) which, when collocated with the receptacle (22) is located in liquid communication with the inner material receiving space (40); a sample well (18) positioned radially outside of the sample receiving portion (14) in a direction perpendicular to a longitudinal axis (A), the sample well having a well opening; a liquid passageway (16) for directing liquid from the sample receiving portion (14) towards the well opening; a container (20) having a container opening; and a liquid impermeable barrier (8'; 44) for preventing liquid entering the container opening from the sample receiving portion (14).
Abstract:
A Laser Induced Breakdown Spectrocopy (LIBS) system (2) for the analysis of a sample pellet (12) of a consolidated granular material retained in a tubular container (20), the system (2) comprising a laser source (4) configured to emit a pulsed laser beam (6) towards an exposed surface of the sample pellet (12); and a sample station (18) configured to hold the tubular container (20) with the sample pellet (12) orientated to present the exposed surface towards the pulsed laser beam and comprising an actuator configured to slide the sample pellet (12) along a movement axis out of the tubular container (20) and thereby present a portion of an outer surface (10) of the sample pellet (12) previously constrained by an inner surface of the tubular container (20) as the exposed surface.
Abstract:
A method of adapting the number of sub-samples analysed by a spectrophotometer comprises acquiring spectral data from an initial plurality of sub-samples (4); processing the acquired spectral data to obtain a value for a sample parameter for each of the sub-samples of the initial plurality (6); determining a variation, particularly a standard deviation, in the obtained values for each of the initial plurality of sub-samples (8) as a Quality Index; and optionally obtaining spectral data from one or more new sub-samples depending on whether or not the Quality Index fulfils a predetermined condition.
Abstract:
A meat processing device comprises a meat processing unit (2) and an external X-ray meat analyzer (6) provided with a housing (8) formed with an inlet (16) connectable with an outlet (4) of the processing unit (2). The housing (8) provides complete shielding of personnel from X-rays except towards the inlet (16) and is movable relative to the processing unit (2) to a first position for analysis at which the unit outlet (4) is collocated with the inlet (16) and at which the processing unit (2) completes the shielding of personnel from X-rays towards the inlet (16).
Abstract:
A method of determining a pathlength deviation of a sample (610), the method comprising: exposing the sample (610) to electromagnetic radiation at a plurality of wavenumbers, determining electromagnetic absorption in the sample (610) at the plurality of wavenumbers, determining a first wavenumber associated with a first absorption level of an absorption band and a second wavenumber associated with a second absorption level of the absorption band, wherein the second wavenumber is different from the first wavenumber, determining a difference between the first wavenumber and the second wavenumber, and determining the pathlength deviation based on the difference.
Abstract:
A method of determining an indication of enzymatic kinetics of a monitored enzymatic reaction comprises: originating temporal evolution data, particularly FTIR spectral fingerprint evolution data, of one or both of a substrate and a product of an enzymatic reaction for different known enzymatic activities; establishing in a data processor a calibration correlating enzymatic kinetics with temporal evolution data by applying a chemometric multi-way model to data representative of the originated temporal evolution data; originating corresponding temporal evolution data for a monitored enzymatic reaction of unknown kinetics; providing to the data processor data representing the provided temporal evolution data; and applying to that data the calibration to determine thereby in the data processor a quantitative and/or qualitative indication of enzymatic kinetics of the monitored enzymatic reaction.
Abstract:
A spectrometric instrument (2) comprises a radiation source (4) for generating radiation from within the ultraviolet to infra-red spectral region with which to illuminate a sample (8) and a complementary detector arrangement (6) for detecting intensity variations in the radiation from the source (4) after its interaction with the sample (8). The instrument (2) also includes a measurement system (10) for receiving radiation and generating sample dependent wavelength resolvable intensities at the detector arrangement (6) and an internally disposed fiber Bragg grating (20) which is constructed to provide a known spectral signature detectable by the detector arrangement (6) and usable by a cooperating computer (18; 18') to correct sample spectral data for wavelength drift.
Abstract:
A probe is provided having a probe head (2) in which is formed an opening (10) for receiving a sample to be analysed. The head (2) comprises a pair of optical interfaces (16; 18), each disposed at a respective opposing inner surface (20; 22) of the opening (10) to delimit a path (26) for optical radiation through the opening (10). At least one of the pair of optical interfaces (18) comprises an element (32) transparent to the optical radiation in the wavelength region(s) of interest and is disposed to permit the optical radiation to travel between internal (28) the probe head and the opening (10). The probe further comprises a movable diaphragm (24) in which a one (18) of the pair of optical interfaces (16; 18) is located for movement therewith and an actuator (46) is located within the probe head (2) and in operable connection to the diaphragm (24) to control its movement so as to vary the path length of the path (26) for optical radiation.
Abstract:
An analyser (2) comprises a sample chamber (6) for holding a liquid sample containing particles and an ultrasound source (16) acoustically couplable to the sample chamber (6) to supply resonant ultrasound energy for acoustically concentrating particles in the liquid sample in nodal planes established thereby. A probe (12,14) is also provided which is adapted to supply electromagnetic energy into the sample chamber (6) and to receive the supplied electromagnetic energy from the sample chamber (6) at least during a time at which particles are substantially concentrated in associated nodal planes. The analyser (2) is provided with an analysis unit (28) in operable connection to a detector (12) of the optical probe (12,14) and is adapted to determine one or both a quantitative and a qualitative property of the liquid sample from the received electromagnetic energy.
Abstract:
An apparatus for the determination of sulphur content of marine fuel oil in a marine vessel propulsion system comprises a sampling station (8) adapted to present a sample of the marine fuel oil for analysis to an analyser having a complementary emitter (16,20) and detector (22,24,26) arrangement configured to respectively couple energy in one or both of the infra red and near infra red spectral regions into and to detect coupled energy after its interaction with, the marine fuel oil presented for analysis. The optical analyser further comprises a spectrometer (14) for generating a representation of an intensity variation of the detected coupled energy and computational means (28,32) adapted to analyse the representation to produce output signals (30) indicating a sulphur content of the marine fuel oil usabie in control of functional elements of the marine vessel propulsion system.