Two New Heavy Duty Refractometers Launched

The two new Anton Paar Heavy Duty refractometers, Abbemat 450 and 650, are the solution for customers who handle aggressive samples or do refractive index measurements in fume hoods or glove boxes. The instruments are designed for remote operation. They consist of a measuring unit and a separate control unit that can be put in a safer place. This allows the user to operate the instrument from a distance of up to 5 meters.

To achieve the outstanding mechanical stability required for measurement in harsh conditions, Anton Paar machined the housing of the compact measuring unit (20 cm x 20 cm x 14.5 cm) from a solid block of aluminium, and then anodised its surface for durability. Instruments used close to the production line suffer their fair share of bumps and scrapes. The measuring unit can easily withstand these, as well as the splashes of water that are inevitable in this environment, where hoses are often used for cleaning. In fact, the unit is fully waterproof to a depth of one meter for up to two hours. The inside of the instrument is hermetically sealed and kept free of moisture with a replaceable drying cartridge. This ensures optimal conditions for a long lifetime of optics and electronics.

In the case of samples containing pulp (juices) or solid particles, users can prevent errors caused by sedimentation of the measuring prism by placing the measuring unit in a vertical position.

The unit is also available with two different accuracy levels, according to user needs: ±0.0001 nD (Abbemat 450) and ±0.00002 nD (Abbemat 650). The sapphire prism is scratchproof and provides a wide measurement range (1.26 nD to 1.72 nD). A built-in solid-state temperature control (Peltier) guarantees fast and even temperature adjustment between 10°C and 85°C.

Simple adjustments, user management with separate user rights, an electronic signing of measured data sets (21 CFR Part 11) and GLP/GMP-conform data recording are provided in order to suit even strict pharmaceutical requirements. Abbemat refractometers can also be connected to Anton Paar density meters, polarimeters and viscometers to establish a powerful multiple parameter measuring system.

Users can harness the power of the Abbemat 450 and 650 for quality control of pure substances and concentration determination of binary solutions. These instruments can also detect changes in multi-compound mixtures by delivering an overall control parameter.