traceCLEAN

Acid steam cleaning system

traceCLEAN assures best cleaning quality of your TFM, glass and quartz parts for ICP/ICP-MS accessories. Any trace metal contaminants that are present in the cleaning acid stay within the reservoir and do not come in contact with the cleaned trace accessories.

In trace analysis the effects of contamination from laboratory air or furnishings, apparatus, containers, and reagents have become increasingly important, as the sensitivity of analytical methods has lowered detectable limits to the nanogram and picogram level.

M. Zief, J. W. Mitchell, Contamination Control in Analytical Chemistry

How It Works

Steam cleaning with nitric or hydrochloric acid vapors is a very effective cleaning method for preconditioning and routine cleaning of containers and apparatus. The container to be cleaned is placed over a PTFE coated glass rod. Acid in the lower reservoir is heated, and purified acid vapor travels up through the glass rod and condenses on the container, removing surface contamination.

Compare acid steam cleaning to acid leaching

The container to be cleaned is placed over a PTFE coated glass rod. Acid in the lower reservoir is heated, and purified acid vapor travels up through the glass rod and condenses on the container, removing surface contamination. This method of cleaning is a preferred alternative to the soaking preconditioning methods for the following reasons:

The trace metal contamination found in the reagent grade acid remains in the lower reservoir and does not come in contact with the component to be cleaned.
The clean component does not remain in contact with the cleaning acid after the surface contamination is removed.
The critical surfaces of the clean component are dry when the cleaning process is complete. This eliminates the need for rinsing and air drying.
The cleaning process takes place in a sealed container which minimizes airborne contamination and provides a clean environment for the components to be stored until they are needed.

Do you know how to reduce the sample prep blank?

Read our book! It explains how a laboratory can reach full control of analytical blanks and sample preparation for obtaining accurate results. The application of instruments and strategies to control sample prep blank is often called a “Clean Chemistry” technique. This book discusses the factors impacting blank quality, in particular when microwave digestion is used, and reviews some Clean Chemistry products and technologies designed to help the analyst generate superior analytical data on their ICP-OES or ICP-MS instrumentation.