Mid-infrared measurement technology brings a new level of precision in chemical and environmental applications

Manufacturers of chemicals and petrochemicals are constantly on the look-out for new technologies that will improve their products and speed up the introduction of new products.

In the chemicals sector, analytical technology, for instance: spectroscopy, provides chemical, biological and physical information as well as Multivariant Statistical Process Control (MSPC) or, more accurately, Multivariate Statistical Process Monitoring (MSPM) along with the latest, mode based, process control (APC) and optimisation.

Biological processes are very complex and therefore difficult to analyse and understand. As a rule, precise knowledge of the fermentation process is a rarity and it is therefore impossible to optimise fermentation processes using theoretical assumptions. Experiments need to be carried out, these are both costly and time consuming. To gain an accurate understanding of process scale-up, there is a need to design these biotechnological experiments carefully and precisely to achieve product and process scale-up and eventual manufacture. Miniaturised, in-situ, fibre optic immersion probes offer a solution to providing real-time mid-infrared (MIR) data that can significantly improve the precision of chemical determination, while lowering expenditure for performing at line or even remote measurement.

art photonics provide a range of ATR immersion probes for environmental, chemicals and food & drink applications. At last, dependable, in-situ spectral measurements of fundamental molecular vibrations in the ‘fingerprint region (550 to 3300 cm-1) are a reality for liquid chemical processes.