"The QuAAtro is the workhorse of our Southampton laboratory," says the NOC's Dr Sinhue Torres-Valdes. "It has a compact footprint and provides automatic analysis of large numbers of samples, with only small sample volumes required. The AA3 is employed for on-ship analysis because as a modular SFA it is easier to maintain in the event of any problems whilst away from shore."
In addition to the ability to operate both at sea and in a land based laboratory, Mark also requires three other important features in his analytical instrumentation. First, he needs the ability to analyse large numbers of samples very quickly because, whilst at sea, he can be responsible for analysing samples from a number of scientists' simultaneously, and also because his land based laboratory at the NOC provides an analytical service to a broad community encompassing research scientists, students and a number of industrial clients. Secondly, with samples coming from a wide variety of different sources, including seawater, estuarine waters, pore water, phytoplankton culture and biological samples, he needs to be able to measure a broad range of concentrations. Thirdly, he requires low detection limits so that his work is not limited when measuring at low levels. SEAL SFAs are therefore ideal for Mark's work, offering high sample throughput with low sample volume, which reduces both cost and waste.