PerkinElmer OilExpress 4, User Manual

Page: 92 / 152

92 . OilExpress 4 System User's Guide
System Validation
You can perform a number of checks to ensure that your system is working properly.
•
Control Samples, run daily, check that the system is performing as expected.
Refer to
Control Samples
below.
• System Checks check that your system – that is, instrument and accessory – are fit-for-
purpose.
These are run from OilExpress 4 software. You are advised to run the Cell
Contamination check daily, or after each batch of samples if you are analyzing samples
with unusually high soot levels. It is not necessary to run the Noise and Abscissa checks
at the same time, but they should be run at least weekly.
System checks are specific to the current instrument configuration and, if you have a
DUO (dual-spectrometer) system, are run independently for each spectrometer.
• Component Checks (in Spectrum software) check that the components of your
spectrometer are working.
Refer to the
Spectrum Two User’s Guide
(part number L1050228) provided with your
spectrometer or the Spectrum on-screen Help.
Control Samples
We recommend that you run a Control Sample, ideally once per day, to check that the
analysis process as a whole (spectrometer, autosampler, flow cell and data analysis) is
performing as expected.
You should choose a control sample that contains known quantities of the components of
interest and is similar in composition to your samples. Add a row for the control sample in
the Samples table and select the appropriate analysis method. Select
Control Sample
as the
Sampling Height
.
NOTE: This option uses the sampling height set for
Control Samples
defined on the
Autosampler Setup dialog. Alternatively, you can type a new value in the
Sampling
Height
cell on the Samples table.
When the batch has been completed, check the results to ensure that your system is working
within acceptable parameters. If the results are outside acceptable limits, you may want to:
• Run the Cell Contamination check, and consider cleaning the flow cell or changing the
cleaning settings in OilExpress 4 software.
• Check that the analysis method you are using is suitable for your samples and/or
control sample, and that the correct Oil Type was selected.
•
Check that the correct pathlength normalization has been applied.
•
Check that the oil is representative of the whole sample.
Review your sample preparation SOPs.
•
Check that the sample shuttle and spectrometer are working correctly.
For more details, refer to Troubleshooting starting on page 128.