Dumas Analytical System
Labora
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ments
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DUMATHERM
COMPETITION
LECO Corp. St. Joseph, Michigan, USA
Dr. Werner Küppers
C. Gerhardt GmbH, Königswinter
SALES TRAINING
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TOPICS
LECO competition
Company profile and history Product range of LECO Truespec N as direct competition
Principle Features and benefits Comparison with DUMATHERM Summary in table form
DUMATHERM – Keyfeatures
We are the fastest We have less
maintenance We have the easiest up-
to-date technology Helium technology
allows lowest nitrogen contents
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5Combustion technology
easy and straightforward
Combustion of samples with pure oxygen
Reduction of all nitrogen oxides
Easy separation of CO2 and H2O
Analysis of resulting gases with a thermal conductivity detector
Connector tubing
CO2 Adsorbers
Nafion tubing
Detector
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COMBUSTION PRINCIPLE
CnHmNx + a O2
950 °C
Must be separated !
Oxidation:
n CO2 + ½ m H2O + x N-Oxides
Combustion of samples with pure oxygen (i.e. system must be purged to get rid of air)
Remaining ash must be separated Reduction of all nitrogen oxides Separation of CO2 and H2O Analysing of resulting gases with a thermal conductivity
detector
COMPETITIONDUMATHERM
LECO Corp. Laboratory Equipment Corporation
St. Joseph, Michigan, USA
LECO Truespec N Long history of combustion
instruments since 1936 with an estimated market share of approximately 50% or more
TruespecN is the end of a long history of models in the combustion field
LECO is a specialist in carbon analysis with a focus on steel industry
Food and feed instruments were added in the early 90s to complete the product range
available since 2004
LECO Principle Combustion with high
excess of oxygen Separation of dust
with two filters Separation of water Collection of gases in
ballast volume Aliquot of 2 ml is
taken out and transported to the detector after passing some more scrubbers
Brochure FP-2000
LECO Autosampler
LECO Autosampler (silver) compared with our (black) plate
Who can put more sample weight into his autosampler ?
How to put in1gram into a LECO ?
LECO autosampler with a tin foil ball with 500 mg of milk powder
Impossible to analyse !!!
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Combustion Principle LECO
CnHmNx + 4500 ml O2
950 °C
Oxidation with tremendous excess of oxygen: x N-Oxides
Combustion is ALWAYS done with 4500 ml oxygen, not looking at the sample type (no difference between 5 mg EDTA or 1000 mg of animal feed)
We use e.g. 100 ml oxygen for 100 mg EDTA which saves 4400 liter gas
Handling oxygen lance: breaks often and has to be connected to the flange on top
Ash insert is a porous ceramic crucible
LECO Combustion Tube / Old Type
Tube is firmly fixed in the furnace and difficult to be taken out
Furnace has to be almost cool for exchanging tubes
While taking it out it is easily destroyed
Material inside is just for filtering off the dust particles from the combustion
LECO combustion
U-shaped tube cracks often and is difficult to mount and dismount
More O-rings=more leaks
Oxygen lance must be fixed very complicated at the lance holder and cracks very often during this operation (costs 350 Euro)
Crucible: 210 Euro Trapping material is to
absorb the dust during combustion
LECO Combustion Tube / New
DUMATHERM: Combustion Tubes
Easy to handle Exchange in hot
status possible Only two o-rings for
fixation and for sealing
Oxygen dosing is done according to the sample weight (200 mg EDTA = 200 ml oxygen)
1:1 dosing results in less dust
Separation of Dust with LECO
Combustion at lower temperature and with high excess of oxygen causes problems with dust
Dust filters are needed Extra filter is mounted in the
furnace The dust from the
combustion is separated to a large amount
Dust filter trap must be emptied and refilled by the customer (hazardous powders)
Ballast Volume and Aliquot Valve
Ballast tank collects all combustion gases
Aliquot valve takes out a loop of 2 ml from 4500 ml (0.04 %) and ONLY 2 ml are analysed with the detector
This operation is needed, because these 4400 ml non-consumed oxygen would oxidise the copper for reduction completely during one analysis
Ballast tank must be calibrated according to the surrounding air pressure. This calibration must be adjusted day by day
Ballast control needs 9 additional valves
Aliquot Valve with 2 ml loop
Ballast Volume LECO Gases should be filtered befor entering the ballast volume Effectivity of dust traps is very poor, because dust
particles are always passing the traps into the ballast volume which makes frequently cleaning and volume calibration necessary
More sample weight = more dust = MUCH more maintenance!
Used and brand new ballast volume
Water Absorber LECOSORB No specialty, just sodium
hydroxide on a little bit of silica support
Hazardous consumable Customer has to refill the
trap every week
Electronics and Structure
• Old fashioned and not up to date electronics with touch panel and keyboard at the instrument e.g. in the FP-2000• In general, electronic boards are not protected in a separated area • Cables everywhere in this chaotic construction !!
DUMATHERM Electronics
Clear structure One mainboard Easy to understand Electronics separated
from the rest of the instrument
…
Detector with LECO
• Old fashioned and not up to date detection technology based on the wheatstone resistance bridge principle• Measuring gas flow and reference gas flow MUST be kept 100% constant• Once again: chaotic construction
Detector CalibrationLECOData series for the calibration [in mg Aspartic acid or EDTA] : 1, 2, 3, 5, 7.5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 50, 75, 100, 125, 150, 175, 200, 250, 300, 350
Daily Routine LECO:Two calibration standards are measured after the system has stabilized and the result is taken to shift the calibration upwards or downwards. System must be perfectly stable within this period.
DUMATHERM:
5-8 points
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SPEED: We are the fastest !
Based on the ballast volume principle, LECO has to fill the 4.5 litre ballast volume with every sample or blank value.
This takes always the same time while we adjust the combustion time on the sample weight (i.e. less sample weight means less analysis time, e.g. 100 mg EDTA = 15 s
No nitrogen analyser can do a nitrogen determination based on a reference method faster than DUMATHERM in about 3 minutes
„Duma“ is the Kisuaheli expression for „cheetah“, the worlwide fastest animal on land
Never ending list of O-rings of different sizes and materials
Single parts expensive (service kits available)
Often LECO service is needed for the change of those parts
Service expensive
35 valves (we have only 10!)
COSTS
O-Ringsreference card with 26 different types
DUMATHERM: just 4 different o-rings> 6 times less
Maintenance to be done by customer
Taken from the service manual for Truespec N
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Spare Parts and ServiceDUMATHERM vs. Truespec
No other instrument worldwide has less parts in the spare part catalogue than we have E.g. LECO has 26 different o-rings in the Truespec,
DUMATHERM needs only 4! No other instrument worldwide has such a service
friendly construction and such a clear structure Service with LECO can only be done by LECO
specialists while DUMATHERM can be maintained by the customer
No other instrument worldwide has less articles in the spare part catalogue LECO has a never ending list of spare parts
No other instrument worldwide can be installed in the morning and gives good analytical results in the afternoon LECO needs a set-up-time of 2-3 days at least bevor
starting the first EDTA…
Routine work on a LECO: If the combustion tube needs replacement you have to cool down the system and you need a full tool kit, which means that you are off for hours.
Customer experience:Very few people have a “comfortable” experience with LECO these days. They used to be very close to their customers and form strong relationships, but the current ethos leaves people feeling somewhat cheated and facing high costs.
Many users source their consumables and service from third parties because of high LECO prices
… Disadvantages of LECO
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Striking Arguments against LECO
Compacter DUMATHERM design (65 kg against 130 kg) Clearer construction easy to understand allows well-founded
customer training within one day. Analysis of all combustion gases and not only an aliquot is
analysed after passing the ballast volume Maintenance free parts for water and carbon dioxide
separation whereas LECO uses traps which must be emptied frequently
Low service and maintenance costs due to well-thought construction
Truespec must be kept ON to prevent long set-up-times after restarting the unit
20 times more oxygen consumption in every analysis, even with blanks
Gas dilution causes massive problems with low nitrogen ranges (e.g. < 0.1% N)
LECO only sells instruments because of their historic position
DUMATHERM is the better instrument, it is
reliable, precise, easy to use and to maintain
Flowchart DUMATHERM
Easy principle and only 10 valves!
DUMATHERM Combustion
Easy access without further dismounting of parts
No need to cool down the system completely
Well-priced ash inserts with high capacity
Catalyst to support the combustion reaction and avoid dust problems
DUMATHERM Bottom Connection
Easy access without further dismounting Well-priced plastic tubing as the only part to be exchanged If dust is passing the reactor, it is trapped in the quartz wool
Reduction
650 °C
copper reducedN- oxides N2
We have the best copper chips with the largest surface
More surface = more capacity for reaction
Easy to take out the tube
Easy to refill Costs acc. to price lists
: LECO 250g=132
EUR Gerhardt 250g=65 EUR
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Water Separation with NafionTM
• Maintenance free system !
• Inside: gas stream with helium, nitrogen, water and carbon dioxide
• Membrane: polar and chemical inert material
• Specific reaction with water
• In-built functional groups, each of them can trap 13 water molecules
• Outside: counterflow of pure nitrogen separates 100% of the absorbed water
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News: Water Trap to analyse as well liquid samples
• Target: pre-condensation of 95 % of all water with automated drainage controlled by software
• Remaining water is separated with Nafion
• Easy discharging of separated water
• With LECO the water is trapped with Peltier technique befor going into the ballast volume
• If the separation was not 100 %, water condensation is found in the ballast volume = cooling down and cleaning is a must
• With liquid samples we have now good chances to win against LECO !!
Direct Comparison of Specifications
Model LECO TRUSPEC N DUMATHERM
Positions Autosampler 30 (60, 90, 120) 40 (80, 120)Possible sample weights according to brochure up to 1 g up to 1 gTypical sample weights in reality 200-400 mg 50-300 mgDetection limit (in mg Nitrogen absolute) 0.01 mg N 0.ic01 mg N
All combustion gases analysed ? no (aliquot) yes
Detector classic TCD innovative TCD
Daily adjustment of calibration yes no
Analysis time 4 to 6 minutes 3 to 4 minutes
Number of valves 35 10
Number of o-rings 24 8
Combustion tubeu-shaped quartz with
dust filtersstraight quartz with
catalyst