Discovery TGA™ Getting Started Guide
Page 18
The sample can be sealed in a special aluminum pan and opened (exposed to the environment) immedi-
ately before being loaded into the balance via the Autosampler’s optional punching mechanism. The
punching mechanism ensures that only punched pans are loaded onto the balance. If punching is not suc-
cessful, the pan will not be loaded.
Figure 7
Optional punching mechanism.
To calibrate the sample tray and punching mechanism, refer to
“Calibrating the Discovery TGA” on
of this manual and TRIOS Online Help.
Hi-Res™ TGA
The TA Instruments Hi-Res
™
TGA technique differs from alternative control techniques in that the heating
rate of the sample material is dynamically and continuously modified in response to changes in the rate of
decomposition of the sample so as to optimize both weight change resolution and time of analysis. This
TGA technique (supplied with the Discovery TGA 5500, available as an upgrade for TGA 550) allows the
use of very high heating rates in baseline regions where no weight changes are occurring, but automatically
slows the heating rate during weight changes. Once the weight change(s) are complete, the system returns
to the selected ramp heating rate. Typical Hi-Res ramps often take the same or less time to complete than a
comparable constant heating rate experiment run at a lower heating rate, while providing improved resolu-
tion.
Some of the benefits provided by the Hi-Res option are:
•
Improved transition resolution
•
Faster scans
•
Enhanced signature analysis capability
•
Transition temperatures closer to isothermal values
•
Increased method programming versatility
