NEWS Glass Expansion Newsletter | June 2012 | Issue 28
GE NEWS
APPLICATION SPOTLIGHT
EXAMINING THE BENEFITS OF A CERAMIC
TORCH FOR ICP
JASIS 2012
A full range of Glass Expansion products
will be on display at JASIS 2012, Tokyo,
Japan, September 5 to 7, 2012 and
Glass Expansion specialists will be on
hand to assist you.
IN THIS ISSUE:
• Application Spotlight 1 – 3
• GE News 1
• New Products 4 – 6
• Hints 6
• Instrument News 7
- From Horiba
- From Spectro
The classic ICP torch consists of three concentric fused quartz tubes sealed together,
creating a single-piece torch. The outer tube of the ICP torch contains a plasma that
can reach temperatures in excess of 6000°C. Contaminating impurities can have a
detrimental affect on the life of fused quartz material. Alkaline metals, including Na
and Li, act as a flux, accelerating devitrification at temperatures around 1000°C. At
this temperature, impurities from samples can become imbedded within the quartz,
starting the devitrification process. The disadvantage of the single-piece torch is that
it is a relatively high cost consumable item that requires regular maintenance and
replacement, particularly with more demanding samples, such as hydrofluoric acid
(HF), organic solvents and high dissolved solids.
The D-Torch is a revolutionary new torch design, providing the benefits of a
demountable torch at a significantly lower cost without sacrificing performance. In
this report we will introduce the benefits of the D-Torch and investigate the use of a
ceramic outer tube in place of a quartz outer tube for difficult matrices and reduced
plasma gas (coolant) flow rates.
The D-Torch is available for a range of ICP-OES and ICP-MS instruments. It provides the
analyst with an outer tube which can be replaced when it fails rather than replacing the
entire torch. Interchangeable outer tubes made of quartz or ceramic are available for most
D-Torch configurations. The ceramic outer tube is of particular benefit for the analysis of
wear metals in engine oils and high salt samples, where quartz outer tubes often suffer
from short lifetime. It is also beneficial for low level Si determinations, where quartz outer
tubes can produce high background signals. In general, the ceramic outer tube has a
much longer lifetime, greatly reducing interruptions and downtime due to torch failure. In
addition to an interchangeable outer tube, the D-Torch also features an interchangeable
injector. This allows the analyst to have a specific injector for each application whether
aqueous, organics, high dissolved solids or HF. Injectors made from high quality quartz,
alumina and sapphire are available in a variety of internal diameters to suit your application
needs. The D-Torch also incorporates a ceramic intermediate tube for greater robustness.
An example of the D-Torch and its components is shown in Figure 1.
Base and
inner tube
Ceramic
outer tube
Quartz
outer tube
Quartz
injector
Alumina
injector
Sapphire
injector
*Products shown above are available for the Thermo iCAP 6000 series Radial ICP,
ceramic outer tube not available for all ICP models.
Figure 1: D-Torch components with a selection of outer tubes and injectors to best suit your application needs.
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