On-line fermentation gas analysis: Error analysis and application of mass spectrometry

On-line fermentation gas analysis is of general interest because it permits the determination of metabolic rates in almost any biological process using living organisms. The consumption and production of gases (O₂, CO₂, CH₄, etc.) and volatile compounds may be determined without causing any risk of infection. Elemental balancing permits the determination of other metabolic rates if the stoichiometry is known. This was studied with the production of poly-β-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) by Alcaligenes latus. Estimations were based on the measurement of gas partial pressure and flow-rates, pH and alkali consumption rate. Experiments with a small quadrupole mass spectrometer showed unacceptable error propagation. Therefore, dynamic error propagation for all rates was studied using simulation. It was found that, for example, a 1% relative offset-calibration error for oxygen can result in an error in PHB estimation of > 50%. It is suggested that this culture is used in combination with elemental balancing for thorough tests of the accuracy of on-line gas analysis equipment. An on-line process gas analyser based on a quadrupole mass spectrometer (Balzers PGM 407) gave the following precision values (abs. vol.?%) during cultivation of Bacillus subtilis: nitrogen (m/z 14), 0.024; oxygen (m/z 32), 0.020; argon (m/z 40), 0.0011; and carbon dioxide (m/z 44), 0.0034. These values, combined with automatic recalibration, would be sufficient for reasonable estimation of PHB, biomass and substrates.     

Impact of alkali treatment on physico-chemical,thermal, structural and tensile properties of Carica papaya bark fibers

This study aims to examine the effect of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) treatment on the physico-chemical properties, structure, thermal, tensile and surface topography of Carica papaya fibers (CPFs). The surface of raw CPFs was modified by soaking with 5% NaOH solution for 15, 30, 45, 60, 75 and 90?min. The results of thermo-gravimetric analysis revealed that the optimum treatment time for alkali treatment was 60?min. It was found that the alkali treatment improved the properties of the CPFs. The results of TGA, FT-IR, XRD and AFM suggest that the treated CPF is a suitable alternative as reinforcement in polymer composites.     

Chemometric and trend analysis of water quality of the South Chennai lakes: an integrated environmental study

In order to bring out the nature of the factors influencing lake water composition, multivariate statistical analysis and trend analysis were performed based on the hydrochemical data of the study area, namely, South Chennai. Change in land use pattern and settlements along the banks of the lakes alters the quality and quantity of the surface water. In the present study, the R‐mode factor analysis and cluster analysis were applied to the geochemical parameters of the water to identify the factors affecting the chemical composition of the lake water. Dendograms of both the seasons give three major clusters, reflecting the groups of unpolluted to moderately polluted, polluted, and heavily polluted stations. The movement of stations from one cluster to another clearly brings out the seasonal variation in the chemical composition of the lake water. The complex hydrochemical data of the surface water were interpreted by condensing them into three major factors. Factor score analysis was used successfully to delineate the stations under study and the role of the contributing factors, and the nature of factors responsible for the variation in chemical composition of the water has been clearly brought out. Results of trend analysis using ArcGIS clearly indicate that the trend in water quality is deteriorating at a faster rate in the eastern part of the study area. It is understood that although natural shifts probably can account for some of the variation, it is most likely that human activities play a major role in affecting the water quality on a regional scale. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Determination of rank by augmentation (DRAUG)

Determining the rank of a chemical matrix is the first step in many multivariate, chemometric studies. Rank is defined as the minimum number of linearly independent factors after deletion of factors that contribute to random, nonlinear, uncorrelated errors. Adding a matrix of rank 1 to a data matrix not only increases the rank by one unit but also perturbs the primary factor axes, having little effect on the secondary axes associated with the random errors in the measurements. The primary rank of a data matrix can be determined by comparing the residual variances obtained from principal component analysis (PCA) of the original data matrix to those obtained from an augmented matrix. The ratio of the residual variances between adjacent factor levels represents a Fisher ratio that can be used to distinguish the primary factors (chemical as well as instrumental factors) from the secondary factors (experimental errors). The results gleaned from model studies as well as those from experimental studies are used to illustrate the efficacy of the proposed methodology. The method is independent of the nature of the error distribution. Limitations and precautions are discussed. An algorithm, written in MATLAB format, is included. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Time-series analysis in analytical process control

Analysis of time series tries to extract tendencies from measured values dependent on time. For this purpose the cusum technique has proved to be a very sensitive tool for the evaluation of both current and completed time series. Even very weak tendencies can be detected at a high level of noise. Time-series analysis further tries to predict values to come from hitherto performed measurements. As a very flexible model exponential smoothing could be successfully used. Even for processes with a high extent of non-stationarity this model allowed a good prediction owing to the dynamics of the process. Three types of time-series analysis, i.e., evaluation of current measurements, retrospective evaluation and prediction of data (also known as “in vivo”, “post mortem” and “in futurum” time-series analysis) are demonstrated for problems stemming from analytical process control.     

新材料的发展与分析化学

文章介绍了新材料的重要性及发展方向,分析化学在新材料研制中起着耳目的作用,另一方面新材料也为分析化学的进展提供了课题与条件。微量分析、微区分析、表面分析是此领域中的重点。在未来的发展中,分析化学在材料的发展中的地位不会改变,并期待着分析灵敏度与空间分辩率的进一步提高。     

Determination of Mercury in Geological Materials by Continuous-Flow,Cold-Vapor,Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry

Abstract

To determine mercury in geological materials, samples are digested with nitric acid and sodium dichromate in a closed teflon vessel. After bringing to a constant weight, the digest is mixed with air and a sodium chloride-hydroxylamine hydrochloride-sulfuric acid solution and then Hg(II) is reduced to Hg with stannous chloride in a continuous flow manifold. The mercury vapor is then separated and measured using cold vapor atomic absorption spectrophotometry (CV-AAS). For a 100 mg sample the limit of detection is 20 parts per billion (ppb) Hg in sample. To obtain a 1% absorption signal, the described method requires 0.21 ppb Hg solution (equal to 16 ppb in sample). Precision is acceptable at less than 1.2% RSD for a 10 ppb Hg aqueous standard. Accuracy is demonstrated by the results of the analysis of standard reference materials. Several elements do interfere but the effect is minimal because either the digestion procedure does not dissolve them (e.g., Au or Pt) or the; are normally of low abundance (e.g., Se or Te).     

Quality evaluation of moluodan concentrated pill using high‐performance liquid chromatography fingerprinting coupled with chemometrics

In this study, a fast and effective high‐performance liquid chromatography method was developed to obtain a fingerprint chromatogram and quantitative analysis simultaneously of four indexes including gallic acid, chlorogenic acid, albiflorin and paeoniflorin of the traditional Chinese medicine Moluodan Concentrated Pill. The method was performed by using a Waters X‐bridge C₁₈ reversed phase column on an Agilent 1200S high‐performance liquid chromatography system coupled with diode array detection. The mobile phase of the high‐performance liquid chromatography method was composed of 20 mmol/L phosphate solution and acetonitrile with a 1 mL/min eluent velocity, under a detection temperature of 30°C and a UV detection wavelength of 254 nm. After the methodology validation, 16 batches of Moluodan Concentrated Pill were analyzed by this high‐performance liquid chromatography method and both qualitative and quantitative evaluation results were achieved by similarity analysis, principal component analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis. The results of these three chemometrics were in good agreement and all indicated that batch 10 and batch 16 showed significant differences with the other 14 batches. This suggested that the developed high‐performance liquid chromatography method could be applied in the quality evaluation of Moluodan Concentrated Pill.