At the ACHEMA 2006 exhibitions Petrotest Instruments (Germany) presented a functional model of a new automatic Ring- & Ball test unit,
which is, due to a new heater type and an intelligent sensor system, able to test materials in a bath up to 300°C. After two years of extensive development a prototype will soon be available. By use of a high-temperature grade silicone oil for the bath, even special standards, such as ISO 4625 and EN 1238, can be attained far above 260°C.
Existing EN and ASTM standards have been considered also and specific customer requirements could be integrated too. The instrument is equipped with a qualified data assessment logic, a technically matured Pmove⢠operating concept for graphical menu navigation, multiple data- and network interfaces, almost unlimited memory, multi-lingual display and a wide range of optimized test equipment. The handling was essentially simplified.