A guide to buy Kjeldahl devices
Depending on what tools you have access to in the laboratory environment, a variety of processes and tests can be performed. When providing equipment for a laboratory, it should be determined which equipment is necessary depending on its needs and which equipment is ranked next in terms of priority. In the meantime, one of the most used and extremely useful processes in this space is the Kjeldahl process, for which the discussion of purchasing the required parts is very important. In this article, we try to help young researchers to set up their laboratories correctly by providing a comprehensive guide for this purpose.
What is the Kjeldahl method?
When we talk about this daevice, we must first know what this method entails. The operation, also known as Keldahl, is an internationally recognized method for determining the amount of nitrogen in a sample. With its help, the properties of diffrent samples can be accurately determined, including chemicals, foodstuffs, soil, sewage, and fertilizers. Considering these features, it is clear why researchers consider it valuable: a lot of information can be obtained in many fields with the help of this method.
It is named after the Danish scientist and chemist, Johan Gustav Kjeldahl, who pioneered this methodology in the 19th century. The system designed by him was initially manual, and due to dealing with sulfuric acid with a concentration of 98%, it was considered dangerous for new employees and forces who had not received detailed training, but later it was facilitated by designing special devices for it. and became today’s form.
The method consists of three stages:
• Digestion
• Distillation
• Titrasion
During the digestion stage, the sample is exposed to a strong acid such as concentrated sulfuric acid in the presence of a catalyst (often potassium permanganate). The goal in this step is to produce an ammonium salt, which if the mentioned acid is used, the result will be ammonium sulfate. Then this salt should be changed in a way that it is easier to detect the amount of nitrogen in the composition. In the old examples, ammonia should have been produced at this stage, which is known as distillation, but today, instead, ammonium borate is obtained by exposure to soda and heat. Finally, we will have the titration stage, which can determine the amount of nitrogen when exposed to colored reagents.
In the traditional method, a glass set was used, which was known as the Kjeldahl set, but in modern times, semi-automatic methods are used to do this work, and the advancement of technology has led to the production of equipment with the ability to accurately control this process. We will introduce these tools in more details below.
What is a Kjeldahl Device?
As we said, this operation consists of three main steps. In the first step, the process involves boiling the sample in sulfuric acid and thus you are dealing with extremely dangerous and corrosive acid fumes. This is although the distillation stage requires separate equipment and its only similarity with digestion is its need for ammonium salt produced in the first stage. This has caused these two processes to be performed in two separate devices in most of the equipment produced in the market. Therefore, when we talk about the device of this process, we mean two independent devices: the digestion device and the distillation device (the titration process also takes place in the second device).
Digesters are often combined with scrubbers and hoods to prevent the release of acidic vapors into the environment. This is because distillation tools do not need this equipment and working with them is less dangerous. Finally, each of these two groups needs its buying tips, which we will examine together below.
Tips when acquiring a Kjeldahl device
When buying digestion equipment, you should pay attention to these issues to experience a better purchase:
1. Type of heating system: There are three heating systems in these devices, which will include oven, infrared, and microwave. It is a cost-effective and cheap infrared oven with no heat loss and long life and a fast and expensive microwave oven. You should be careful which system you use and how much price difference is observed depending on it.
2. The number of sample positions: these devices may have between 6 and 40 houses, and accordingly, they have different dimensions and uses.
3. Programmability: Depending on the product technology, in some models, you will encounter the ability to program micro-operations, which is a great way-opening capability.
4. Temperature range and accuracy: In some models, up to 650 degrees Celsius is supported, which enables them to be coordinated with various tests. Naturally, this has a direct effect on the price and quality of work.
5. Being equipped with scrubber and hood: Scrubber and hood are both vital devices next to the digestion device and their presence or absence should be checked. Of course, it is suggested to use separate models to have better quality.
Tips for buying a distiller are much simpler and are just parameters that you need to check. Except for the discussion of the screen and the possibility of programming the device, you should check only three things:
1. Range of measurable nitrogen
2. Distillation rate
3. The rate of analysis of the obtained sample
Finally, based on these tips, you can choose the product model you want.
Conclusion
In this article, we went to review the tips for buying a Kjeldahl machine and provided you with a simple and brief guide. First, we discussed what this process is, what it is used for, and why it is called by this name. In the following, we discussed the types of devices used in it, and finally, we discussed buying tips.
We hope that this information can help those interested in this field to become familiar with this process and if they are planning to set up a laboratory and want to go to its operational tools, to know better what equipment they are dealing with and what features They should check in them. Bakhshi Laboratory Industries provides you with some of these tools with the highest quality and the most economical price, and you only need to compare what we offer with other examples in the market to see our honesty.