Flow injection analysis : Part IX. A New Approach to Continuous Flow Titrations

Studies of dispersion patterns in nonsegmented streams, flowing through narrow open tubes, show that it is possible to obtain highly reproducible concentration gradients within a sample zone injected into the moving stream. By varying the geometry of the flow path, low, medium and high dispersion patterns can be achieved; the high dispersion pattern forms the basis for a new approach to continuous flow titrimetry. In this type of titration, discrete samples are passed through a gradient device and are then mixed with a continuously flowing stream of titrant of fixed concentration. The new technique has been tested for potentiometric as well as spectrophotometric end-point indication. A simple one-channel system allows titrations to be performed automatically in less than 1 min.