Many of you are probably familiar with the Stayer series chromatographs, which have been produced and continue to be produced by Aquilon for many years.
The new line of Steyer M chromatographs, being in some ways a logical continuation of the Steyer line, has a completely different set of metrological, technical and user characteristics. Special attention was paid to reliability, ergonomics and ease of operation.
Steyer-M is positioned as a device designed for solving daily "routine" analytical tasks and having metrological characteristics necessary for guaranteed compliance with the requirements of current regulatory documents, and at the same time being in the budget price category and not assuming the highest level of personnel qualification.
Device cases
We have developed functional device cases, on the one hand, easily mounted in a standard chromatographic rack, and on the other - convenient for use as a separate unit. The ergonomic design involves optimizing the structure of the chromatographic system for the habits and "whims" of a particular user. The front and rear panels of the housings are cast from chemically and mechanically resistant RVT plastic, reinforced with glass fiber and able to withstand long-term work in a chemical laboratory.
The doors are cast from PMMA (polymethylmethacrylate). The supporting elements of the structure are made of aluminum by high-temperature extrusion and processed by the method of solid anodizing.
HPLC Pumps
The huge variety of analytical tasks solved by the method of high-efficiency liquid chromatography dictates the need to maintain different eluent supply systems in the production range.
Today, we can offer isocratic single-and double-head pumps in both metal (SS 316) and non-metal (РЕЕК) versions, designed for different flow ranges. Some pumps are equipped with an intelligent microprocessor-based system for reducing flow ripples. For the first time in the company's nomenclature, a whole series of gradient elution systems with low pressure gradient formation appeared, and, of course, there were systems with high pressure gradient formation. The range of pumps produced allows you to optimally select the eluent supply system for solving almost any analytical problem.
Detectors
The set of detectors available for installation in systems largely determines the analytical capabilities of liquid chromatographs.
Our company supplies a wide range of detectors of its own production and the detectors of domestic and foreign partners optimized for working with our system. Serious design improvements, which significantly affect the technical and metrological characteristics, have been made to the detectors traditionally produced by us spectrophotometric, refractometric, fluorimetric, and conductometric. For the first time in the Stayer M line, there is a diode-matrix detector (BAS), as well as mass spectrometric detectors, which appeared in our company thanks to cooperation with Termo Fisher Scientific. The range of detectors offered by us traditionally continues to include the low-temperature evaporative light scattering detector (SEDEX), produced by our partner-the well-known French company S. E. D. E. R. E.
Column thermostats
For the Steyer M line, completely new, "smart" monoblock column thermostats have been developed with a real accuracy of maintaining the temperature no worse than 0.10 °C. The design of the thermostat provides not only heating, but also forced cooling of the columns at high speed. The thermostat housing does not heat up during operation, which ensures a comfortable working conditions for the staff and the surrounding equipment.
Eluent background conductivity suppressors
Chemical and electrochemical suppressors of the background electrical conductivity of eluents for ion chromatography provide a cardinal increase in the sensitivity of the method. A budget-priced chemical suppressor shows good results in anion separation, but requires regular change of the suppression solution. On the contrary, the electrochemical suppressor, while maintaining a reasonable price, makes it possible to detect anions at low concentrations, while the special design of replaceable cartridges ensures a long time of their operation.
Eluent Generators
A flow-through eluent generator for ion chromatography eliminates the need for users to prepare precise base solutions. The eluent is generated from pure water on-line on the high-pressure side by electrochemical method, which allows not only to increase the stability and reproducibility of the analysis results, but also to use gradient techniques.
Flow and concentration control unit
The use of a software-controlled concentration unit can dramatically boost the sensitivity of almost any chromatographic method by introducing a large sample volume. In this case, the analytes accumulate in a special concentrating column, from which, when switching the taps, they are washed out by the eluent with minimal broadening of the chromatographic peak.
Self-configuring the system
All units of the Steyer M chromatograph are connected to each other using the Aquilon BUS, which is based on the modern industrial CAN protocol. All blocks "know" about each other's existence and "understand" the processes occurring in neighboring blocks. Thus, the connection of any next unit is reduced to its physical installation in the system and connection to any of the units alrea in the device blocks with the bus connector. The chromatograph is connected to the computer via the RS-232C bus, and you can connect to any of the units installed in the system. The system configuration and block operation parameters are automatically transmitted to the computer software.
Expansion and modernization options
Built on the block-modular principle, the Stayer M assumes the possibility of easy modernization and expansion of the complete set of the device with the expansion or modification of the list of analytical tasks to be solved. The use of self-configuration mechanisms and a special design of the device allow you to integrate new modules and change the system, even for users with intermediate qualifications.
Ability to remotely update the internal software of the blocks
The Steyer M blocks have the ability to update the embedded software. The Aquilon Control Center software is included in the package of delivery of any chromatograph, thanks to which users can independently install firmware updates.
System power on self-test
Each time the device is turned on, the self-testing procedure for each unit is started automatically and invisibly for the user, and the test protocol is formed on the basis of this procedure. The resulting protocol contains not only test data visible to the user in the device menu, but also "deep" processes taking place in each block at the internal software level. This protocol can be sent as a file to the service center via email and processed by specialized service programs, which in some cases makes it possible to quickly diagnose problems and issue appropriate recommendations without the arrival of a service engineer.
Automatic monitoring of possible operator errors
A special feature of the Steyer M line is the ability of the built-in software to track the actions performed on the device, which allows you to avoid breakdowns in case of accidental operator errors, even if the computer control is disabled or absent.
The ability to work in a wide range of supply voltages and with grounding problems
Power surges, sags, over- or under-voltages have a major impact on the operation of any analytical equipment. Old buildings sometimes have problems with grounding and zeroing, up to the appearance of voltage on the ground bus. In order to guarantee the operation of our devices in the harshest conditions, we have used special power supplies which are stable over a very wide range of mains voltages (from 110 to 250 V) and can withstand quite serious voltage surges. Special measures taken in the development of electronic circuits allow our devices to operate with minimal degradation of performance, even in networks with poor or missing grounding.
