Operation Manual for

PLRA-2B
AUTOMATIC POLARIMETER

PLEASE READ THIS MANUAL CAREFULLY BEFORE OPERATION

3, Hagavish st. Israel 58817 Tel: 972 3 5595252, Fax: 972 3 5594529 mrc@mrclab.com

MRC.VER.01-5.11

CONTENTS

I. II. III. IV. i. ii.

APPLICATIONS.1 PERFORMANCE1 CONSTRUCTION AND PRINCIPLE2 HOW TO USE.4 Operation Measurement of the concentration or content Measurement of the specific rotation or concentration Measurement of the international saccharic concentration MAINTENANCE.....6 COMMON BREAKDOWN AND HANDING...7

iii. iv. V. VI.

I.

APPLICATION

The polarimeter is a kind of instrument for measuring the optical rotation of a substance. Through measuring the optical rotation, the polarimeter can be used to analyze the concentration, content, and purity of a substance. The PLRA 2B automatic polarimeter utilizes the photoelectric detection automatic balance principle and the results are displayed by LCD. PLRA2B automatic polarimeter is characterized by its small size, high sensitivity, human error-free, easy reading, and so on. Furthermore, this instrument is also suitable to the sample of low optical rotation which is difficult to be analyzed by visual polarimeter. Therefore, it can widely be used in various fields of the organic chemical industry. Agriculture: use in contents analyses of agricultural antibiotic, hormone, microbial agro-pharmaceuticals and agricultural products. Medication: use in analyses of antibiotic, vitamin and glucose and in pharmacological research. Food: use in analyses of sugar, monosodium glutamate and soy sauce, in inspection of their final products and determination of sugar content in food. Petroleum: use in analyses of mineral oil and in control of oil ferment process. Essence: use in analyses of essential oil. Health: use in analyses of diabetics urine.

II.

PERFORMANCE

Measuring range: 45 Accuracy: (0.01 + measuring value 0.05%) Repeatability: 0.01 Display: 5 LCD Minimum indicating value: 0.002 Monochromatic light source: sodium lamp (589.44nm) Sample tube: 200mm, 100mm Power supply: 220V22V, 50Hz1Hz Outer size: 600mm 320mm 220mm Weight (net): 28kg RS232 interface: band rate 9600,1 bit stop, 8 bits data

III.

CONSTRUCTION AND PRINCIPLE

The polarimeter utilizes a 20W sodium lamp, an small aperture stop and a lens to make up a collimated point light source as shown in figure 1. The parallel light passes through polarizer and becomes a polarized light whose vibration direction is denoted by line OO in figure 2a. When the polarized light is passing through the Faraday modulation coil, its vibration direction will generate a angle swing (50Hz), as shown in figure 2b. Then the polarized light passes through the analyzer and is projected onto the photomultiplier, an ac signal will be produced. The optical zero point of the polarimeter is obtained when the polarization plane of the polarizer is perpendicular to that of the analyzer (i.e. OOPP), and at the time 0 (see figure 3). A photo-signal of 100Hz will be obtained at the optical zero point, due to the angle swing which is generated by the Faraday coil, as shown in curve C. But in the case where samples 1 and 2 exist, two 50Hz signals with inverse phases are obtained, as shown in curve B and D. Therefore, this will enable the servomotor with an operating frequency of 50Hz to be driven. The polarizer will be turned through angle ( 1 , or 2 ) by means of a worm-worm wheel. Now, the polarimeter has returned back to the optical zero point. At the frequency of 100Hz the servomotor keeps stationary and the optical rotation of the sample is indicated.

D'

B'

t t -90
a a

C'

0
a

a a

+90 a

Curve A: light intensity varied with the magnitude of optical rotation Curve B,C,D: optical rotation varied with time t due to Faraday effect (swing) Curve B',C',D': photo-current varied with time tphoto-signal

Figure 3

1. light source 2. counter 3. Faraday coil 4. sample chamber 5. photomultiplier

Figure 4

IV.

HOW TO USE
Operation Insert the power plug of the instrument into the 220V power source. [It is required to use an AC electronic voltage regulator (1 kVA).] And connect the grounding terminal to the earth reliably. When the power switch is turned on, the sodium lamp should light up. The instrument should be prewarmed for 20 minutes. Turn on the light source switch. (When the DC switch has been pulled up, if the lamp goes out, the DC switch should be pulled up and down repeatedly for one or two times, so as to make the sodium lamp light up under DC condition.) Press the Measure button, the LCD indicate the digits. Remark: Pressing the Measure button only need once. If you press it by mistake, the instrument will stop measuring and the LCD no display. The user should press the Measure button again, after that the LCD will re-work. Now you should calibrate zero again. Put the test tube containing distilled water or other blank solvent into the sample chamber, and close the cover. After the indicating value has got stabilized, press the clear button. If there are air bubbles in the test tube, the first thing should be done is to make the air bubbles float on the protruded tube-neck. The atomized water-drops on the

both ends of the test tube should be wiped dry. The screw-nut of the test tube should not be screwed down too tightly, so as to avoid stress, otherwise, the readings may be affected. When placing the test tube, care should be taken for the marked position and direction. Take out the test tube, then, inject the sample to be measured into the test tube. According to the same position and direction, put the test tube into the sample chamber, then close the cover. Now the instrument will indicate the optical rotation of the sample, the diode 1 light. Remark: use the sample to wash the tube (inside) three or five times before measurement. Press the Re-M (repetition- measurement) button once, the diode 2 light, the instrument display the result of 1st repetition-measurement, press the Re-M button again, the diode 3 light, display the result of 2nd repetition-measurement, press the 1 2 3 button, shift display the values of measurement each time, press the Average button, display the value of average, the diode AV light. If the polarized angle of the sample exceeds the measuring range, the instrument will be oscillating at 45, at this time, the test tube should be taken out, then the instrument will reset to zero automatically. After diluting the sample, measure again. Turn off the measurement switch, light source switch and power supply switch step by step when the measuring process is over. When the DC power supplying system is out of order for the sodium lamp, the instrument can also be used to perform the measurement with the sodium lamp under the condition of being power supplied with AC. But the performance of the instrument will be slightly decreased. When the sample of smaller rotation (less than 0.5) is put in, the indicating value will change probably. In such a case, only by pressing the repetition measurement button, new value will be indicated. Measurement of the concentration or content Dilute the known purity standard sample or reference sample into several specimens with different concentration, based on a given ratio. Then, determine the optical rotation values of these specimens. After that, a curve of the optical rotation is plotted with the ordinate referring to the optical rotation and the abscissa to concentration. Based on the optical rotation curve, a table is to be compiled by the interpolation method. In this measurement, the optical rotation of the sample will be determined at first, followed by finding out its concentration or the contents according to the optical rotation curve. Note that, the optical rotation curve should be plotted on the results obtained from the same instrument and the same sample tube.

Measurement of the specific rotation or concentration A solution of definite concentration should be prepared according to the pharmacopoeia regulations. Then, determine the optical rotation of the solution. The specific rotation can be calculated by following formula:

where is the determined optical rotation (degree) C is the concentration of the solution (g/ml) L is the length of the solution (dm) From the specific rotation, the purity of the sample will be found. Purity = actual specific rotation / theoretical specific rotation Determination of international sugar degree According to the regulations of ICUMSA*, a standard sugar solution (26g / 100ml) is tested in 200mm sample tubes at a temperature of 20, using the sodium lamp. The result is: the optical rotation of +34.616 and the sugar degree of 100Z. * International Commission for Uniform Methods for Sugar Analyses

LC

V.

MAINTENANCE

The polarimeter should be placed in a dry place with good ventilation and kept from corrosion. The instrument should be handled with care and vibration is not allowed. The light source can be cleaned or changed if it is dirty or faulty. If the instrument mechanism is operated in great friction, it is advisable to put some oil into the bevel gears, the worm gear as well as the worm through the rear door. If the instrument is damaged or some other parts are in failure, please ask professional to check or contact with our repair department.

VI.

COMMON BREAKDOWN AND HANDING

Breakdown Appearance ANALYSES FOR REASON Handling method

After turning on the power The sodium lamp or the fuse Change source (AC), the sodium lamp is break. doesnt light up. After turning on the power The speed of turning on light Turn on quickly. source (DC), the sodium lamp source switch is too slow. doesnt light up. The sodium lamp is break. The power board is break. Change Send to our repair department. The instrument cant balance The light cant go through Clear sundries. automatically. the sample chamber. The lamp is not lit up Waiting. completely. The high voltage or Send to our repair department. Send to our repair department. Mechanical friction Open the rear door, moving parts oiling. Repeatability is bad and value is The lamp is aging. deviating. The optical system has dust. Change Send to our repair department.

servosystem has problem. No display or display not Display circuit has problem. completely The sound is too loud.