Malvern Instruments Mastersizer X, Manual

Page: 51 / 102

Introduction
This chapter will guide you through the practical steps involved when making a
measurement using the Accessory. For convenience it will be assumed you will be
using the Qspec MS1 macro (see page 4.4). A Standard Operating Procedure
(SOP) is shipped with the macro called “Dairy Milk” This has been set up for the
measurement of ordinary dairy milk - this is felt to be a commonly available
sample that the user can use through this demonstration.
Chapter 7 will give you information on creating and editing your own SOP.
System and Accessory preparation
For you to carry out the following stages, you need to have installed and powered
up your system by following the instructions in the system Installation Guide and
powered up your accessory by following the instructions in chapter 3 of this
manual.
Before you measure a new sample it is always a good idea to flush the system with
clean dispersant to get rid of any contaminants.
$
To flush the Accessory:
.
If the tank in the Dispersion Unit is full, use the drain control to empty the
tank, sample tubes and cell.
.
Close the drain control and fill the tank with clean dispersant (for this
measurement use water).
.
Set the speed control on the Controller Unit to between 2000 and 2500 to
flush the system. Top up with clean water if necessary.
.
Turn the stirrer to zero and again open the drain control to empty the tank.
Repeat the above procedure until you consider the tank clean.
Making a measurement
Making a measurement with the Qspec MS1 macro is very simple. Simply start
the macro by selecting the button shown below:
The first dialogue that will be displayed is shown below. This asks if you wish to
make the measurement conforming to an existing SOP. If you select “yes” then
you are asked to select an SOP from a list. If you select “no” then you will be
Two alternatives to
selecting the Qspec
button is to either
select Control-Qspec
MS1 Macro or
selecting Control-Run
program and selecting
QSPECMSI.BSC.
N O T E
'
C H A P T E R 6
Q S S M A L L V O L U M E S A M P L E D I S P E R S I O N U N I T
P a g e 6 . 1