Faster Calibration and Adjustment with Thermal Analysis Software

In order to achieve accurate results, an instrument has to be regularly calibrated, which means determination of deviation from the expected behavior. If a deviation is detected, an adjustment is necessary to correct for the difference. We will show you how to make use of FlexCal. FlexCal is a time-saving tool that allows you to achieve very accurate results under different or changing measurement conditions without the need to spend a lot of time for instrument adjustment. In a differential scanning calorimeter, DSC, the temperature and heat flow measurements are influenced by pan type. method gas type, and heating rate. In the star E system, for each combination of instrument, crucible, and gas type, the software stores a complete adjustment data record in the database. When a method is selected in an experiment, the software sends the corresponding parameter sets to the module. This ensures that even for gas switching the correct data records are applied. A second unique feature of FlexCal is the mathematically estimated parameters in case there are no adjustment parameters in the database. This means that based on one adjustment parameter set, other crucible and gas type parameter sets can be mathematically estimated, thanks to the known material properties of the crucibles and those known for gases. As a result, running your samples using different crucibles from the wide selection offered by Mettler Toledo can be done very efficiently using the benefits of FlexCal. No extra adjustment is necessary, thereby saving you valuable measurement time for other analyses. Changing the gas type from an inert to oxidative type can easily be performed without the need to adjust the system. The benefits of FlexCal maximize your uptime for sample analysis. FlexCal is a unique technology which corrects the adjustment parameters automatically depending on crucible and gas used. As a result, enthalpy and temperatures are correct for isothermal measurements as well as for dynamic measurements with different heating and cooling rates. FlexCal supports two different types of users. A user who always measures with the same configuration of crucible and gas, and occasionally uses another configuration, they can rely on the automatic calculation of the adjustment parameters based on the adjustment of the standard configuration, air and the forty microliter aluminum pan. All other configurations are mathematically estimated when they are required by the method. The result will be sufficiently accurate. For other users who measure fifty per cent of samples with the standard configuration and fifty per cent with another configuration, it is recommended to adjust the two combinations separately. The second adjusted FlexCal parameter set is then stored in the database and does not influence other, already stored parameter sets. Measuring with adjusted parameter combinations guarantees the highest accuracy. But this is not all. FlexCal can provide even more benefits. dsc measurements of the same sample, for example indium with different heating rates in an unadjusted instrument, would show different melting onsets. But melting points should be heating rate independent. This can be corrected with the tau lag adjustment. The Star-E software allows you to run a special adjustment method that takes care of different heating rates. These additional parameters are stored together with the crucible and gas type in the database. The evaluation shows that in a Tau lag adjusted instrument the melting onset becomes heating rate independent. With FlexCal, which is standard in the STAR e software, the user can be sure that independent of the selected heating rates, gas or crucible types, the temperature and enthalpy results are always very accurate. This is because the right adjustment parameters are automatically used for each experiment. FlexCal: the time saving calibration tool from Mettler Toledo.