Thursday 14 June 2007

Fifth IRMS System Commissioned



In order to keep up with the demand for analyses our IRMS system count rose to 5 last month. The new system was obtained from SerCon Limited and complements the other 4 systems.

Back in 2000 our first instrument had to be used to analyse all of the stable isotopes in lots of different sample types. Over time we have developed the analytical facility so that instruments are dedicated to particular isotopes and types of sample. This has enabled us to cope with 15,000+ samples we receive each year so that they are turned around in good time. Our facility is now made up of:

System 1 : Deuterium and oxygen-18 in water (equilibration) and solids (high temperature conversion)

System 2: Carbon-13 and nitrogen-15 in solids (EA-IRMS)

System 3: Carbon-13 in gases, carbonate isotopes and overflow for system 2

System 4: Sulphur-34 in solids (EA-IRMS)

System 5: Overflow for systems 2 and 4.

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