ELTRA CS-580A, Operating Manual

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Analysis
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in the same order in which they are weighed and memorized in the loader stack. It
is allowed to leave one or more empty trays on the loader, for example in order to
separate groups of crucibles carrying the same sample material or a calibration
standard etc.
3.1.2 Procedure of carrying out analyses with manual loading of the sample
Although the CS-580A (Helios) is equipped with an autoloader and normally
analyses are carried out using this autoloader, it is possible to load the sample
manually for analysis.
• Place an empty crucible on the balance.
• Tare the balance using the “F6-Tare” button located on the balance,
or the “Tare” button in the “Analysis control” window of the software
(F6 on the PC-keyboard).
• Put around 250 mg of coal sample into the crucible.
• Press the “F4-Balance” button in the ”Analysis control” window of the
software (F4 on the PC-keyboard) to transfer the weight value from
the balance to the PC. The transfer function is performed regardless
of how often the button is pressed. This enables a correction of any
falsely entered weight.
• Enter the sample ID into the corresponding input field of the “Analysis
control” window of the software. This step is optional. If no sample ID
is required, the entry may be omitted.
• Press the “F2-Furnace” button to open the furnace (if it is closed).
• Take the crucible from the balance and put it on the pedestal.
• Press the “F5-Start” button to begin the analysis.
From now on, no further operator intervention is required. The furnace closes and
the analysis is carried out automatically. At the end of each analysis, the results
are displayed on the PC-display and saved in the database of the software.
Remarks
The sulfur range should be deactivated when only carbon is required. This avoids
undue delays of the analysis caused by sulfur compounds which are difficult to
burn, like it is in case of cement analysis. Accelerators are also not necessary.
The sample weights are valid when the detectors have appropriate sensitivities and
the right path lengths of the IR-cells. If not, the analysis condition can be improved
by sample weight variation.
Generally, the weight has an optimum size when the peaks on the screen reach
the middle of the range, i.e. the peak maximum go up to 4 to 6 volts.
The sample weight should be reduced when the IR-cell is saturated. However,
when the weight is lower than 100 mg, the accuracy will be reduced due to the
samples being not homogeneous and due to lower weighing accuracy.