The determination of oxygen in brass and zinc by a vacuum carbon-reduction techniques

A vacuum carbon-reduction technique for the determination of oxygen in brass and zinc has been studied. As a preliminary, zinc is removed from the samples, sealed in predegassed graphite capsules, in a silica furnace maintained at ca. 850°C under vacuum in a vacuum fusion instrument. The residual contents of the capsules are then analysed in sequence at 1450°C in the main furnace of the apparatus, to which they are transferred without breaking the vacuum. The procedure developed affords a detection limit of 0.5–1 ppm of oxygen for samples weighing ca. 1.5 g.