The Automatic Ash-Color-Turbidity Analyzer of Schmidt + Haensch measures the conductivity in accordance with the official ICUMSA method in a 28 Bx solution (ICUMSA 2002, GS2/3-17). The measuring data can be collected by a data acquisition software package, processed, stored in a data base, and exported to a LIMS system.
The system is easy to use, delivers reliable results, and saves valuable time that the laboratory personnel can use for other, non-routine work. It is specially designed for sugar laboratories with high sample throughput. An example is the combined automatic determination of conductometric ash and color (ICUMSA) for the sugar industry. The crystalline sugar sample is manually added – no further preparation is necessary – and the sample ID can be detected with a barcode scanner. The system dissolves the sample automatically and dilutes the solution to a defined concentration (50 Brix). It automatically filters the sample and fills the specially designed flow-through tube of the Coloromat. The measurement is carried out at 420 nm according to ICUMSA (2002, GS2/3-17). In a second step, the system further dilutes the solution to 28 Brix to measure the conductometric ash. All measurements are operated continuously. Finally, the whole system is rinsed with water and is ready for the measurement of the next sample; the complete measuring sequence takes ten minutes compared to an hour if handled manually. The measuring values are transmitted to a PC that also controls the whole system, calculates the required results, and transmits all data to a LIMS or MIS system.