ERASPEC - F M 8043
ERASPEC - F M 8043
ERASPEC - F M 8043
Instruction Manual
ERASPEC
Fully Automated
FTIR Fuel Analyzer
Thank you for choosing eralytics and welcome to a new era of petroleum testing.
Your eralytics analyzer includes a standard warranty period of 12 months from date
of delivery.
To double your warranty period free of charge, complete this form together with
the initial qualification form and send it to eralytics. This extends the warranty period
to 24 months from the date of installation.
Information
Received manual and operations video ___________
Received test report ___________
Informed about preventive maintenance (rinsing the Diesel cell) ___________
Informed about substances not compatible with ERASPEC FUEL
(Acetone) ___________
Handling
Showed and explained the calibration menus (Gain and Offset) ___________
_________________
Location, Date
______________________ ____________________
Customer company name Sales representative company
______________________ ____________________
Customer operator name Sales representative name
______________________ ____________________
Customer operator signature Sales representative signature
Manufacturer:
eralytics GmbH
Lohnergasse 3
1210 Vienna
Austria
Product:
ERASPEC FTIR Fuel analyzer
(Gasoline, Diesel Fuel, Gasoline-MMT, Jet fuel)
The product to which this statement relates is manufactured and duly carried out in
compliance with the provisions of European Community Directive 2004/108/EG and
2006/95/EC.
___________________________
Andreas Schwarzmann
Managing Director / Production
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9.3.4 The Driveability Index DI....................................................................................... 87
9.3.5 Total aromatics........................................................................................................ 88
9.3.6 The MMT and CMT calibration ............................................................................. 88
9.3.7 The RON and MON correction for Mn, Aniline, and NMA .................................. 89
9.4 Printing results ............................................................................................................... 90
9.5 Saving results and raw data on a memory stick (flash drive) ........................................ 90
9.5.1 The “result.txt” file ................................................................................................. 94
9.5.2 Opening the “result.txt” file on the PC with Excel ................................................. 96
9.5.3 Creating a new “result.txt” file ............................................................................... 98
9.6 Saving absorbance spectra on a memory stick (flash drive) ........................................ 100
9.7 Adding a sample to a data base .................................................................................... 101
9.8 Editing a data base ....................................................................................................... 104
9.9 Changing the model for MLR ...................................................................................... 104
9.9.1 Selecting a different standard MLR model ........................................................... 106
9.9.2 Standard MLR models .......................................................................................... 107
9.9.3 Changing and creating an MLR model ................................................................. 108
9.9.4 Changing the number of iterations for Cluster Analysis ...................................... 110
9.9.5 Selecting the peaks used for Cluster Analysis ...................................................... 111
9.10 Free parameters for additional properties .................................................................. 113
9.11 Deleting results from the Result menu....................................................................... 115
10. Method EN238 for benzene ............................................................................................. 118
10.1 Measurement of an EN238 reference spectrum ......................................................... 119
10.2 Performing EN238 measurements of benzene ........................................................... 119
10.3 Result menu for the optional method EN238 ............................................................ 122
10.3.1 The EN238 Result menu table ............................................................................ 123
10.3.2 Viewing stored EN238 results ............................................................................ 123
10.3.3 Setting the format of the EN238 result list ......................................................... 124
10.3.4 Printing EN238 results ........................................................................................ 126
10.3.5 Saving EN238 results and raw data on a memory stick (flash drive) ................. 126
10.3.6 Creating a new “result.txt” file for EN238 ......................................................... 126
10.3.7 Saving absorbance spectra on a memory stick (flash drive) ............................... 128
10.3.8 EN238 calibration ............................................................................................... 128
11. The Gasoline-MMT method............................................................................................ 132
12. The Gasoline-CG method ................................................................................................ 134
12.1 Description ................................................................................................................. 134
12.2 Selecting the Gasoline-CG method ............................................................................ 135
12.3 Performing a measurement ........................................................................................ 135
12.4 Calibration modification and limit ............................................................................. 136
12.5 Factory calibration ..................................................................................................... 139
12.6 Other functions........................................................................................................... 140
................................................................................................................................................ 141
III. DIESEL ANALYZER ..................................................................................................... 141
13. Description ....................................................................................................................... 141
13.1 Diesel analyzer specifications .................................................................................... 142
14. Measurement menu .......................................................................................................... 143
14.1 Selection of method ................................................................................................... 143
14.2 Selection of a data base (Library) .............................................................................. 144
14.3 Taking measurements ................................................................................................ 145
14.4 Results for calculated properties: CA and MLR ........................................................ 152
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14.4.1 Cluster Analysis: CA1, CA2, CA3 and CA4 ...................................................... 152
14.4.2 Multilinear Regression: MLR ............................................................................. 155
14.4.3 Accuracy and outliers ......................................................................................... 155
14.5 FAME, FAEE and vegetable oil ................................................................................ 157
14.6 FAME (Biodiesel) Calibration ................................................................................... 158
14.6.1 Adding a FAME specific calibration .................................................................. 159
14.6.2 Measuring FAME calibration samples ............................................................... 161
14.6.3 Correcting a concentration value ........................................................................ 163
14.6.4 Calculating new calibration constants ................................................................ 163
14.6.5 Manually changing a calibration constant .......................................................... 165
14.6.6 Switching between FAME methods ................................................................... 165
14.6.7 FAEE calibration ................................................................................................ 167
14.7 Reference spectrum .................................................................................................... 167
14.7.1 Manual start of a reference spectrum measurement ........................................... 168
14.8 Rinsing the system ..................................................................................................... 168
14.8.1 Rinsing between measurements .......................................................................... 169
14.8.2 Rinsing for samples containing FAME............................................................... 169
15. Result menu ..................................................................................................................... 174
15.1 Customizing the Result menu table ........................................................................... 175
15.1.1 Parameters Libs, File, and Warnings .................................................................. 178
15.1.2 Benzene measurement ........................................................................................ 180
15.2 Viewing stored results................................................................................................ 182
15.3 Setting the format of the result list ............................................................................. 182
15.3.1 Calibration correction (Gain and Offset) ............................................................ 185
15.3.2 Limits for warnings ............................................................................................. 186
15.4 Printing results ........................................................................................................... 188
15.5 Saving results and raw data on a memory stick (flash drive) .................................... 188
15.5.1 The “result.txt” file ............................................................................................. 193
15.5.2 Creating a new “result.txt” file ........................................................................... 194
15.6 Saving absorbance spectra on a memory stick (flash drive) ...................................... 196
15.7 Adding a sample to a data base .................................................................................. 196
15.8 Editing a data base ..................................................................................................... 199
15.9 Changing the model for MLR .................................................................................... 200
15.9.1 Selecting a different standard MLR model ......................................................... 202
15.9.2 Standard MLR models ........................................................................................ 203
15.9.3 Changing and creating an MLR model ............................................................... 203
15.9.4 Changing the number of iterations for Cluster Analysis .................................... 205
15.9.5 Selecting the peaks used for Cluster Analysis .................................................... 206
15.10 Free parameters for additional properties ................................................................ 208
16. Method EN14078 for FAME ........................................................................................... 212
16.1 Measurement of an EN14078 reference spectrum ..................................................... 213
16.2 Performing EN14078 measurements of FAME ......................................................... 214
16.3 Result menu for the optional method EN14078 ........................................................ 216
16.3.1 The EN14078 Result menu table ........................................................................ 217
16.3.2 Viewing stored EN14078 results ........................................................................ 217
16.3.3 Setting the format of the EN14078 result list ..................................................... 218
16.3.4 Printing EN14078 results .................................................................................... 220
16.3.5 Saving EN14078 results and raw data on a memory stick (flash drive) ............. 220
16.3.6 Creating a new “result.txt” file for EN14078 ..................................................... 220
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16.3.7 Saving absorbance spectra on a memory stick (flash drive) ............................... 222
16.3.8 EN14078 calibration ........................................................................................... 222
................................................................................................................................................ 226
IV. JET FUEL ANALYZER ................................................................................................. 226
17. Description ....................................................................................................................... 226
17.1 Jet analyzer specifications.......................................................................................... 227
18. Measurement menu .......................................................................................................... 228
18.1 Selection of method ................................................................................................... 228
18.2 Selection of a data base (Library) .............................................................................. 229
18.3 Taking measurements ................................................................................................ 230
18.4 Results for calculated properties: CA and MLR ........................................................ 237
18.4.1 Cluster Analysis: CA1 to CA6............................................................................ 237
18.4.2 Multilinear Regression: MLR ............................................................................. 240
18.4.3 Accuracy and outliers ......................................................................................... 240
18.5 Reference spectrum .................................................................................................... 242
18.5.1 Manual start of a reference spectrum measurement ........................................... 243
18.6 Rinsing the system ..................................................................................................... 243
19. Result menu ..................................................................................................................... 249
19.1 Customizing the Result menu table ........................................................................... 250
19.1.1 Parameters Libs, File, and Warnings .................................................................. 252
19.2 Viewing stored results................................................................................................ 254
19.3 Setting the format of the result list ............................................................................. 254
19.3.1 Calibration correction (Gain and Offset) ............................................................ 257
19.3.2 Limits for warnings ............................................................................................. 258
19.4 Printing results ........................................................................................................... 260
19.5 Saving results and raw data on a memory stick (flash drive) .................................... 260
19.5.1 The “result.txt” file ............................................................................................. 265
19.5.2 Creating a new “result.txt” file ........................................................................... 266
19.6 Saving absorbance spectra on a memory stick (flash drive) ...................................... 268
19.7 Adding a sample to a data base .................................................................................. 268
19.8 Editing a data base ..................................................................................................... 271
19.9 Changing the model for MLR .................................................................................... 272
19.9.1 Selecting a different standard MLR model ......................................................... 274
19.9.2 Standard MLR models ........................................................................................ 274
19.9.3 Changing and creating an MLR model ............................................................... 275
19.9.4 Changing the number of iterations for Cluster Analysis .................................... 277
19.9.5 Selecting the peaks used for Cluster Analysis .................................................... 277
19.10 Free parameters for additional properties ................................................................ 280
................................................................................................................................................ 284
20. COMMON FEATURES .................................................................................................. 284
20.1 Selection of a data base (Library) .............................................................................. 284
20.1.1 Adding an existing data base to the active libraries ............................................ 285
20.1.2 Removing an active data base ............................................................................. 285
20.1.3 Creating a new data base..................................................................................... 286
20.1.4 The library editor ................................................................................................ 288
20.1.5 Library statistics and outliers .............................................................................. 297
20.1.6 Deleting a data base ............................................................................................ 303
20.1.7 Using sets of libraries: Function LibSet.............................................................. 305
20.1.8 Export of libraries to a memory stick (flash drive) ............................................. 307
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20.1.9 Import of libraries from a memory stick (flash drive) ........................................ 307
20.2 Viewing the spectrum on the display ......................................................................... 309
20.2.1 Zooming in and out ............................................................................................. 310
20.2.2 Display of several spectra ................................................................................... 313
20.2.2 The Substances tab .............................................................................................. 318
20.3 Storing temporary data on a USB memory stick (flash drive)................................... 320
21. System menu .................................................................................................................... 322
21.1 Instrument-specific information................................................................................. 322
21.2 User levels .................................................................................................................. 322
21.3 Changing the user level .............................................................................................. 324
21.3.1 Changing the password ....................................................................................... 324
21.4 Printer settings ........................................................................................................... 325
21.4.1 Network printer ................................................................................................... 329
21.4.2 Compatible printers ............................................................................................. 330
21.5 The submenu General in Menu System ..................................................................... 330
21.5.1 Setting the temperature unit ................................................................................ 330
21.5.2 Setting the pressure unit ...................................................................................... 331
21.5.3 Setting the density unit........................................................................................ 331
21.5.4 Setting of date and time ...................................................................................... 332
21.5.5 Setting the language and output file format ........................................................ 332
21.6 The submenu Spec in Menu System .......................................................................... 335
21.6.1 Beeper after measurements ................................................................................. 336
21.6.2 Density meter calibration .................................................................................... 336
21.6.3 Optional method-specific density meter calibration ........................................... 339
21.6.4 Expansion Coefficient ......................................................................................... 341
21.6.5 Counter................................................................................................................ 342
21.7 Network connection ................................................................................................... 342
21.8 LIMS (or Computer connection) ............................................................................... 345
21.8.1 Serial LIMS connection ...................................................................................... 345
21.8.2 Ethernet Connection............................................................................................ 347
21.9 Option Files ................................................................................................................ 350
21.9.1 Customized printer format .................................................................................. 350
21.9.2 Customized computer output (LIMS) format ..................................................... 353
21.10 The submenu App in Menu System ......................................................................... 356
21.10.1 Setting the display brightness ........................................................................... 358
21.10.2 Setting the background color ............................................................................ 358
21.10.3 Setting the font color ......................................................................................... 367
21.11 Code for new methods or modules .......................................................................... 369
22. User level 6: The Maint menu ......................................................................................... 370
22.1 The main functions .................................................................................................... 371
22.2 The submenu Laser .................................................................................................... 372
22.3 The submenu IR ......................................................................................................... 374
22.4 The submenu Cell ...................................................................................................... 375
22.5 The submenu Drive .................................................................................................... 376
22.6 The submenu Misc ..................................................................................................... 378
22.7 The submenu Param ................................................................................................... 379
22.8 The submenu Sampler................................................................................................ 380
22.9 Parameter values ........................................................................................................ 382
23. User level 6: The Tests menu........................................................................................... 384
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24. User level 6: Additional functions ................................................................................... 386
24.1 The OPTIONS menu in the menu Measure ............................................................... 386
24.1.1 Recalculating reference spectra .......................................................................... 388
24.1.2 Recalculating old measurements......................................................................... 390
24.1.3 Recalculating measurements with autosampler .................................................. 393
24.2 Recalculating old measurements from the Result menu ............................................ 393
25. Shutdown procedures ....................................................................................................... 396
25.1 Instrument shut down ................................................................................................. 396
25.2 Reset ........................................................................................................................... 396
26. Errors and warnings ......................................................................................................... 397
26.1 Error codes ................................................................................................................. 397
26.2 Error and warning messages ...................................................................................... 399
26.3 Warnings in the list of results .................................................................................... 402
26.3.1 Color and letter/symbol codes in the result list ................................................... 402
26.3.2 Letter codes in the result list header ................................................................... 403
26.4 Automatic optimization of laser settings ................................................................... 404
................................................................................................................................................ 406
27. The Synthetic Fuel method .............................................................................................. 406
27.1 Description ................................................................................................................. 406
27.2 Selecting the Synthetic Fuel method.......................................................................... 406
27.3 Performing a measurement ........................................................................................ 407
27.4 Other functions........................................................................................................... 409
................................................................................................................................................ 410
28. The Diesel-Cal Method .................................................................................................... 410
28.1 Description ................................................................................................................. 410
28.2 Selecting the Diesel-Cal method ................................................................................ 410
28.3 Performing a measurement ........................................................................................ 410
28.4 Other functions........................................................................................................... 411
................................................................................................................................................ 412
29. The Fuel Methanol Method ............................................................................................. 412
29.1 Description ................................................................................................................. 412
29.2 Selecting the Fuel Methanol method ......................................................................... 412
29.3 Performing a measurement ........................................................................................ 412
29.4 Calibration.................................................................................................................. 413
29.5 Other functions........................................................................................................... 415
................................................................................................................................................ 416
30. The Fuel Ethanol Method ................................................................................................ 416
30.1 Description ................................................................................................................. 416
30.2 Fuel Ethanol analyzer specifications ......................................................................... 416
30.3 Selecting the Fuel Ethanol method ............................................................................ 416
30.4 Performing a measurement ........................................................................................ 417
30.5 Calibration.................................................................................................................. 418
30.6 Other functions........................................................................................................... 421
................................................................................................................................................ 422
31. The Auto Detect Method ................................................................................................. 422
31.1 Description ................................................................................................................. 422
31.2 Selecting the Auto detect method .............................................................................. 422
31.3 Performing a measurement ........................................................................................ 422
31.4 Viewing old results from the Result memory ............................................................ 425
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31.5 Other functions........................................................................................................... 425
................................................................................................................................................ 426
32. The FAME in Jet Fuel Method ........................................................................................ 426
32.1 Description ................................................................................................................. 426
32.2 Selecting the FAME in Jet Fuel method .................................................................... 426
32.3 Performing a measurement ........................................................................................ 427
32.4 Adding a spectrum of pure Jet fuel ............................................................................ 428
32.5 Calibration, limits, and units ...................................................................................... 430
32.6 Other functions........................................................................................................... 434
................................................................................................................................................ 435
33. The Naphthta Method ...................................................................................................... 435
................................................................................................................................................ 437
34. Maintenance ..................................................................................................................... 437
34.1 Changing the inlet filter ............................................................................................. 437
34.2 Rinsing before instrument shut down ........................................................................ 437
34.3 Cleaning the cell ........................................................................................................ 438
34.4 Changing the IR source .............................................................................................. 438
34.5 Changing the pump tube ............................................................................................ 442
35. Supplies reorder information ........................................................................................... 450
36. Software update ............................................................................................................... 451
36.1 ERASPEC with old IPC/Display (delivered in 2012 or before) ................................ 454
36.2 ERASPEC with new IPC/Display (delivered in 2013 or later) ................................. 454
37. Operation with the 10 position autosampler .................................................................... 455
37.1 The VOC parameters ................................................................................................. 462
37.2 The FAME calibration ............................................................................................... 464
37.3 Changing the inlet filters ............................................................................................ 465
38. History of software versions (Customer Changelog)....................................................... 467
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I. GENERAL INFORMATION
1. Introduction
We wish to thank you for the purchase of this eralytics analyzer ERASPEC.
The ERASPEC is a portable mid-FTIR spectrometer that was developed for a fast
and fully automated measurement of important parameters of gasoline and Diesel
fuel and for the determination of several important fuel properties, like Octane and
Cetane numbers as well as Distillation points.
The unmatched precision, speed and ease of operation make it the preferred
analyzer for fuel compliance testing, refining streams quality follow-up, fuel blending
and research or mobile applications.
This Instruction Manual contains all essential information for installation of the
instrument and measurements of standard sample types. The latest versions of the
documents and firmware updates for your eralytics analyzer can be downloaded
from http://www.eralytics.com
While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of these documents,
eralytics GmbH assumes no responsibility for technical or printing errors or
omissions.
Nor is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of the information
contained in this manual.
eralytics GmbH does not make a commitment to update the information in this
manual. Specifications are subject to change without notice.
All rights reserved (including translation). No part of this document may be
translated, reproduced or distributed in any form (print, photocopy, microfilm or any
other process) without the prior written permission of eralytics GmbH.
Trade marks may be used in this instruction manual without being marked as such.
They are the property of their respective owners and are legally protected.
Contact:
eralytics GmbH
Lohnergasse 3; 1210 Vienna, Austria
www.eralytics.com
office@eralytics.com
Hotlines:
Telephone: +43 1 890 50 330
Skype: roland.aschauer
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1.1 Safety and warnings
This Instruction Manual does not claim to address all of the safety issues associated
with the use of the instrument and samples. It is the responsibility of the user to
establish health and safety practices and determine the applicability of regulatory
limitations prior to use.
Make sure you read and understand all instructions and safety precautions listed in
this Instruction Manual before installing or operating the equipment to ensure smooth
operation and avoid damage to the equipment or its accessories. If a malfunction
occurs, consult chapter “Trouble shooting“. If a problem persists or if there are any
questions concerning the operation of the equipment or about the information in this
manual, please contact your local dealer or call the eralytics hotline.
Performance of installation, operation, or maintenance other than those described in
this manual may result in a hazardous situation and may void the manufacturer’s
warranty.
Never operate equipment that is not correctly installed. Ensure that all operators are
fully trained to use the analyzer correctly and safely. Unqualified personnel must not
operate the equipment. Avoid causing damage to the equipment or its accessories
through incorrect operation.
Follow the precautions below for the handling and measurement of inflammable
samples and cleaning agents:
Important:
Always disconnect the line cord of the apparatus when performing maintenance or
moving the apparatus. Do not use any accessories or wearing parts other than those
supplied or approved by eralytics GmbH. If a problem persists, please call your
supplier or eralytics GmbH. Repair and service procedures may only be carried out
by authorized personnel or by eralytics GmbH.
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1.2 Warranty terms
Any product manufactured by eralytics GmbH is sold to the purchaser (herein after
referred to as Customer) on the following basis and none other. All implied
warranties of merchantability and of fitness for a particular purpose are hereby
expressly excluded.
(a) Products are warranted against defects in material and workmanship for a
period of one year (Warranty Period) from the date of purchase.
(b) eralytics GmbH will, without charge, at its option, replace or repair Products
that fail as a result of defective materials or workmanship within the Warranty Period.
(c) None of the obligations assigned to eralytics GmbH by this paragraph shall
apply to any Products which have been repaired, altered or modified at the instance
of Customer, unless Customer has disclosed the nature and full extent to any
proposed repair, alteration or modification to eralytics GmbH in writing before it has
been effected, and obtained an undertaking from eralytics GmbH that any
outstanding warranty obligations in respect of such Products will continue to apply to
such Products despite such repair or alteration. eralytics GmbH retains an unfettered
discretion to grant or refuse any such undertaking.
(d) None of the obligations of eralytics GmbH in this Warranty shall apply to any
Products which have been subjected to misuse, neglect, accident, or (without
restricting the generality of the foregoing) any extreme environmental condition or
improper handling.
(e) lf defective Products are returned to eralytics GmbH, the costs of such return
will be borne by the customer, and those of delivering the repaired or replacement
Products to the customer will be borne by eralytics GmbH.
eralytics GmbH ‘s sole liability hereunder shall be to repair or replace any product
which proves to be defective. In no event shall eralytics GmbH be liable for any
special incidental, consequential, indirect or other similar damages arising from
failure of its Products.
LIMITATION OF REMEDIES
Neither eralytics GmbH nor the Customer will be liable to the other for any special,
incidental, consequential, indirect or other similar damages arising from breach of
warranty, indemnifications, breach of contract, negligence, strict liability or any other
kind of civil liability. eralytics GmbH ‘s total liability in connection with this agreement
shall in no event exceed the amount paid or payable by the Customer in respect of
the product which is the cause of such liability on the part of the company.
15
1.3 COPYRIGHT
The FTIR Fuel analyzer ERASPEC and this manual are protected by copyright.
Reproduction of the unit will result in prosecution.
All rights to the manual are reserved. Reproduction in any form, including in the form
of excerpts, shall require written permission from the copyright holder.
We reserve the right to make technical and content changes without prior notice.
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2. Unpacking
Before unpacking the analyzer, please ensure the analyzer was not subjected to
excessive vibration or shock during transport.
After unpacking please verify that the following items are available:
If any of the items is missing or damaged during shipping, please contact your local
agent or eralytics GmbH (at +43 1 890 50 330 or office@eralytics.com) immediately.
Retain and reuse the shipping boxes and packing materials as they provide optimal
protection for the equipment(s) during transport (e.g. for service).
The USB memory stick contains the following files and subdirectories:
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3. Operating environment
When setting up the analyzer, select a location away from heat, smoke, electrical
interference and avoid any electrostatic discharges (ESD) to the analyzer unit. The
bench top should be a level surface and free of extensive vibrations.
Ensure that the vent holes of the analyzer are not obstructed. The analyzer requires
an environment with ambient room temperature in the range of 15°C to 40°C.
CAUTION! Before making any connections, make sure that the power cable at the
back of the analyzer is not plugged into an electrical outlet.
Only one set-up utility is required: an A.C. electrical outlet. It is recommended that
the analyzer is plugged into its own circuit to avoid power line interference and
voltage surges or drops, which may occur if the circuit is shared with devices with
high electrical draw.
For protection against scratches and spills, it is recommended that the screen
protection film be placed on the touch screen monitor prior to first use (to reorder,
please contact your local agent or eralytics GmbH).
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4. General description
ERASPEC is a portable mid-FTIR spectrometer that was developed for a fast and
fully automated measurement of Gasoline and Diesel fuel samples using only one
single analyzer.
Additionally ERASPEC is the ultimate solution for the global challenge posed by
adulteration, smuggling and dilution in the fuel industry. With the touch of a button
ERASPEC provides a detailed spectral analysis of fuels in seconds directly at the
point of sale to
• ensure the quality of fuels
• identify contaminations
• protect brand reputations
• assure tax revenues
• prevent impacts on public health, environment and engine components
Please refer to the Gasoline and Diesel analyzer sections below for details of the
respective methods.
19
4.1 General specifications
20
5. Setup
5.1 Connections
Please connect the power cable as well as the following parts to the analyzer (see
picture below)
Outlet tube
Sampling tube with Luer
connector
Waste container
Audio connectors
Ethernet connector
RS 232 interface
Press the main power switch. The analyzer will load the firmware. During this
process, the LED on the front will flash. The loading takes about 35 seconds. After
loading, the ERASPEC waits until the operating temperature of the laser has
stabilized. The pump is switched on for 20 seconds during this phase. At last,
Press the main power switch. The analyzer will load the firmware. During this
process, the LED on the front will flash. Loading takes about 60 seconds. After the
software has been initialized, the laser controller is activated and the message
“waiting for laser controller” is displayed. After communication with the laser
controller has been established, the laser is tuned to the pre-set temperature while
the message “Laser warmup” is displayed. When completed, the display shows:
22
After that, the analyzer will automatically load all available reference spectra:
If the youngest reference found in the memory is older than 1 hour, a measurement
of a new reference spectrum will be started automatically. The display shows initially:
23
The the scan to measure the spectrum is started:
After the measurement of the reference, the instrument is ready for measurement:
24
5.3 IQT: Instrument performance check
For the Initial Qualification Test (IQT), it is necessary to perform the instrument
performance check. This means to check if the values for certain parameters are
within the limits after a reference measurement.
To view a list of the parameters listed in the IQT form, its necessary that the user
level is 2 or higher.
After a reference measurement, please press the OPTIONS key in the measure
menu:
25
Press the IQT button. The value of the IQT parameters determined after the last
reference measurement will be displayed:
These parameter values can be compared to the values given on the ERASPEC
Test Report and to the acceptance range on the IQT form.
26
The meaning of these parameters is described in the Section “User Level 6: The
Maint menu”.
This list of IQT data is also stored on a connected USB memory stick in the directory
..\results\eraspec\tmp\ in the file “iqt.dat”.
This directory has to exist on the connected USB stick, ERASPEC does not create it!
For more details about data storage on a connected USB stick please refer to the
section “Storing temporary data on a USB memory stick (flash drive)”.
ATTENTION: The keyboard needs a stronger push in order to close the electric
contact of the respective pixels on the touch screen. Very slightly touching the panel
will not be sufficient.
Please try a few times until you get the “feeling” for how strong a touch is necessary
to operate the touch panel reliably.
As soon as you touch a white text box, the soft touch keyboard appears to enter
characters, numbers, or other symbols:
27
If you prefer bigger buttons, please press the button with the symbol:
To return to the smaller keyboard, press the button with the symbol.
28
enter: your modifications are entered
cancel: cancels the modifications
Clearing a name
Select the name to be cleared, clear it using the << key and press enter. This name
is then removed from the list.
Cyrillic keyboard
If the language Russian is selected (see the Section), then another option is the
Cyrillic keyboard:
Press Lat to display the latin latters or Cyr to switch back to the Cyrillic keyboard.
Chinese keyboard
If the language Chinese is selected (see the Section), then Chinese characters can
be used by writing the English syllable for the desired character. A list of
corresponding characters is then displayed on the bottom. Use the left and right
arrows to browse through the list until the desired character is displayed. Touch this
29
character to select it.
30
5.4.3 Operation with an external keyboard
Connect a standard keyboard to the analyzer to one of the USB ports at the rear
panel.
To select a text box that shall be modified using the external keyboard, touch this
box for less than 1 second. The cursor jumps to this text box without opening the soft
touch keyboard, and the text can be modified with the external keyboard.
The instrument analyses the scanned barcode and replaces any special characters
31
with a _.
When the barcode scanner is used in connection with an autosampler, one must first
press the (first) line before starting to scan the names. After scanning a code, the
cursor automatically jumps to the next position and is ready to read the next sample
name.
32
6. Switching between different methods
This function is accessible only for user levels 2 and higher, and if more than
one method was purchased!
The currently available methods for ERASPEC are Gasoline, Diesel, Jet Fuel,
EN238, EN14078, Gasoline-MMT, and Synthetic Fuel.
After the start-up procedure (which is described in the ERASPEC Gasoline and
ERASPEC Diesel analyzer manuals in detail), the instrument shows the Measure
menu:
33
To switch to a different method and sample type, touch the white box FUEL TYPE in
the first line and select the desired method from the drop down menu:
Only the methods purchased for the ERASPEC are shown in the drop-down list.
Internally, all methods are strictly separated, with separate result memory, library
memory, and separate formats for results, so that any method can be run fully
independently from all other methods and without influencing any other method.
If the sample type is changed from Diesel (methods Diesel and EN14078) to
gasoline (Gasoline and EN238), or vice versa, it is strongly recommended to perform
an additional rinsing step before a sample is measured in the following manner:
Insert the filling tube in the sample to be analyzed. In the Measure menu, press
EMPTY. The ERASPEC will draw in sample. Please wait until the pump is switched
off, then press RUN to start the measurement.
34
.
7. Description
The ERASPEC Gasoline analyzer follows in each detail the requirements of the
latest American and European standards ASTM D 5845, ASTM D 6277 and EN 238
for the measurement of the following parameters:
15 Aromatics:
Benzene (ASTM D 6277, EN 238) 3-Ethyl toluene
Toluene 4-Ethyl toluene
o-Xylene Mesitylene
p-Xylene Pseudocumene
m-Xylene Hemellitol
Ethyl benzene Durene
Propyl benzene Naphthalene
2-Ethyl toluene
Total Parameters:
Oxygen Saturates
Oxygenates Diolefins
Aromatics Anilines
Olefins
Other Parameters:
MMT, CMT, & Manganese Aniline
DCPD (Dicyclopentadiene) N-Methylaniline
Density 0.500 – 1.999 g/cm3 (direct measurement with a built-in density module from
Anton Paar according to IP 559, correl. ASTM D 4052)
35
Properties:
Research Octane number (RON – correl. ASTM D 2699)
Motor Octane number (MON – correl. ASTM D 2700) 5
Anti knock Index (AKI)
Distillation points (correl. ASTM D 86): IBP, T10, T50,T90, FBP
Evaporation points (correl. ASTM D 86): E200, E300
RVP (correl. ASTM D 5191)
Driveability Index (correl. ASTM D 4814)
VOC Emissions Calculator
+ 10 freely programmable parameters
36
7.1 Gasoline analyzer specifications
Detection
Substance Range Repeatability at: Limit
37
Detection
Substance Range Repeatability at: Limit
DCPD (Dicyclopentadiene) 0 – 15 Vol% 0.11 Vol% @ 5 Vol% 0.5 Vol%
MMT (100µm-cell) 0 – 10000 mg/l 4 mg/l @ 80 mg/l 20 mg/l
CMT (100µm-cell) 0 – 10000 mg/l 7 mg/l @ 80 mg/l 20 mg/l
Manganese (by MMT) 0 – 2500 mg/l 1.3 mg/l @ 80 mg/l 5 mg/l
IBP 20 - 50 1.8 @ 37 °C
T10 30 - 70 3.3 @ 67 °C
T50 65 – 130 5.5 @ 95 °C
T90 140 - 190 6.2 @ 150 °C
FBP 160 – 220 5.2 @ 195 °C
DVPE 45 - 100 2.8 @ 60 kPa
NOTE 1: The range and repeatability for calculated parameters (RON, MON, AKI) depend
on the database used.
NOTE 2: The quoted repeatabilities are measured with one scan per measurement. The
repeatability can be improved by averaging 2 or more scans per measurement.
38
8. Measurement menu
After the analyzer is powered and is ready to start measurements, the measurement
menu appears on the display:
The ERASPEC Gasoline anaylzer offers in addition to the normal gasoline analysis
an optional method to determine benzene in gasoline, the European Norm EN 238. If
this option was not ordered, then the “Gasoline” method will always be used.
The otional EN238 method and measurement is described in detail in the section
“Method EN238 for benzene”.
For a normal gasoline analysis, please select the method “Gasoline” from the drop-
down menu:
39
8.2 Selection of a data base (Library)
For the calculation of octane numbers, aromatics, olefins, distillation properties and
other parameters, the ERASPEC needs a library or data base that contains spectra
and known values for these calculated properties.
It is very important that this data base contains samples that are representative of
the samples under test. Please refer to the section “Adding a sample to the data
base” for a description of the procedure to add samples to the data base.
In some situations, it is useful to use different libraries for different sample classes
(e.g. different process streams or different gasoline types). If more than one such
data bases exits, the library or libraries that will be used for a measurement can be
selected.
Please see the section “Selection of a data base (Library)” in the COMMON
Features section for a description of the “LIBRARIES” function.
40
8.3 Taking measurements
After having entered all the desired ID´s and names as described in the section
“Entering sample ID and operator name”, and selected a data base as described in
the section “Selection of a data base”, insert the sampling tube on the right-hand
side of the analyzer into the sample and start the measurement by pressing either
the RUN button directly on the display or the “RUN” hard key on the front panel
(directly below the displayed RUN button).
ATTENTION: Before starting a measurement, please make sure that the waste
container is not yet completely full to avoid spills!
If you want to rinse the system prior to starting the measurement, then put the
sampling tube in the sample or solvent with which ERASPEC shall be rinsed (or, if
you want to rinse with air, just leave the filling tube hanging in air). Then press the
EMPTY button before starting the measurement with RUN (again either directly on
the touch screen or with the hard key below).
A measurement can be stopped at any time by pressing the STOP button directly on
the display or the “STOP” hard key on the front panel (directly below the displayed
STOP button).
After the RUN button has been pressed, the display changes to show the
measurement sequence.
41
First, the sample is automatically drawn into the analyzer. If this procedure is
finished, the instrument requests you to confirm that the sampling tube has been
taken out of the sample container.
Simultaneously with the filling process, the IR source is switched on, and then it
takes few seconds for the IR source and the IR detector to stabilize.
After that, the data scan is initiated during which the actual spectrometric
measurement is taken.
Finally, the sample is removed from the system and discharged into the waste
container, and the system is flushed with air.
Concurrent with the removal of the sample, the spectrum and the results are
calculated. These calculations take only about 10 seconds.
When the measurement is finished, the results are displayed. At the same time the
results are also saved in the result memory (see the section ”Result memory”).
The entire measurement is fully automated and takes about 60 seconds for a
comprehensive gasoline analysis.
42
When the system is completely filled, ERASPEC asks to remove the sampling tube
from the sample container:
Please remove the tube from the sample container and press Ok to confirm.
Meanwhile, the laser has been switched on as well:
43
After a few seconds, when all sources and detectors are stable, the scan to take
data starts. The detector signal is shown live on the bottom of the display:
When the data recording is completed, the pump starts to remove the sample from
the system:
44
Usually still while the pump is running, the result list is displayed:
Use the scroll bar on the right of the result screen to scroll down or up the entire
result list:
45
The order of displayed results and the format of the result list can be adjusted as
described in the section “Setting the format of the result list”.
A comment can be added which will then be stored with these results and which will
also be shown on later printouts. Touch the white box in the line COMMENT and
enter the comment with the pop-up keyboard:
46
To print the result on a connected printer, press the “Print” button on the lower left of
the display.
To add the sample to a library, press the button “Add”. The editor for entering known
values of different parameters will open:
47
Please refer to the Section “Adding a sample to the data base” for a description of
this editor.
If the RUN hard key is pressed, the next measurement is started with the same
sample ID and operator name as was used for the previous sample.
48
8.4 Results for calculated properties: CA and MLR
As discussed in the section “Selection of a data base”, the ERASPEC needs a library
or data base that contains spectra and known values for calculated properties like
octane numbers, distillation properties and other parameters.
If an unknown sample is analyzed, the ERASPEC uses two different methods called
Cluster Analysis (CA) and Multilinear regression (MLR).
49
above, and “CA2” is shown.
A third iteration is performed with still increased limits, and “CA3” is shown if one or
more data base samples were found after the respective iteration.
If even then no sample was found in the data base, then the cluster analysis
procedure is stopped, and MLR is applied. Please refer to the next section for a
description of the MLR method.
When cluster analysis was used, ERASPEC can display also the samples that were
found in the library. In the result list
Click on any grey box with the black number on the left side in a line of a property
that was calculated by CA:
50
The display shows a matrix indicating the samples that were found, in which libraries
these samples are, and for which parameters the respective samples were used.
If the names are not sufficient to identify the samples in the libraries, it is also
possible to additionally display the date and time of measurement: Click on the large
grey field Library in the header:
51
Now date and time are displayed together with the sample name, so each library
sample can be unambiguously identified.
Press OK to return to the result list.
MLR always works. The accuracy of results obtained in this way is usually lower than
for cluster analysis, but if the unknown is not too different from samples represented
52
in the data base, the results are usually still good.
A statistical measure how well an unknown sample is represented in the data base is
the Mahalanobis distance, or short Maha distance. This distance is calculated and
also displayed in the result menu as Maha. Distance. The smaller the Mahalanobis
distance, the better the unknown sample is represented in the data base.
It may also happen that the unknown sample is not well represented in the data
base, i.e. all data base samples are very different from the unknown sample. In this
case, the unknown sample is a so-called outlier (because it lies outside of the data
base samples). The Mahalanobis distance can also be used to set a criterion to
detect such outliers.
If the data base contains N samples, then a limit D2Lim can calculated by the general
formula
If D2 is smaller D2Lim , then the unknown sample is acceptably well represented in the
libraries used for the measurement.
If D2 is bigger than this limit, then the unknown sample has to be considered an
outlier, and the results for the properties of such outliers will have, on average, a
lower accuracy.
Because the limit D2Lim is dependent on the number of spectral areas and the
number of samples in the library, it is not possible to give a value for the Maha.
Distance D2 for which the sample is accepted. However, it is possible to define a
normalized Maha. Distance in the following way:
D2Norm = D2 / D2Lim
If outliers are found, the best strategy is to add them to the data base if the
properties or at least one property are known (see the section “Adding a sample to a
data base” for a description of how to add samples to the data base).
53
the EPA in the USA.
To be able to calculate VOC and VOC high, the library needs to contain enough data
for a calculation of E200 and E300.
However, the concentration of sulphur and the vapor pressure (RVP) cannot be
accurately determined from the IR spectrum, and these values need to be known
and entered into the ERASPEC before a measurement is started.
To activate the VOC calculations, it is necessary to shift the parameters VOC and/or
VOC reduction to the box “shown in result screen” in the menu Results, as described
in the section”Setting the format of the result list”.
If VOC and / or VOC reduction are active, a VOC button will appear in the Measure
menu:
54
Enter the known values for the sulphur concentration in ppm and the vapor pressure
(RVP) in psi in the respective fields.
Then select the Area Class (B or C), Phase (1 or 2) and Season (Summer or Winter)
in the respective line from the drop down list.
Press OK to store these values and to return to the Measure menu.
Then proceed normally with the measurement of the sample. The VOC values will be
calculated, using the entered sulphur and RVP values and the results of the IR
measurement, according to the equations above, and will be shown in the result list:
55
Attention: If the VOC calculation is active then Total Esters (as described in the next
section) cannot be added!
To activate the measurement of the ester content, please go to the menu System –
Password and enter GasEster:1 in the box Method Code:
56
ERASPEC will beep to confirm the correct input.
Then please go to the menu Result – Edit:result and move the parameter Ester from
the left box “available” to the right box “shown in result screen”:
57
Press OK to store this setting.
Touch this button Ester CAL to enter the Ester calibration menu:
58
The factory calibration constants give already an accurate result for the esters in the
sample. However, it is possible to develop a user specific calibration. The calibration
procedure is analogous to the FAME calibration for the Diesel method. Please follow
the procedure described in the Section “FAME (Biodiesel) Calibration” in the
description of the Diesel Analyzer.
When the Ester parameter is switched on and in the list of results, the measured
concentration of Esters will be shown in the Result list (top line in the list in the
screenshot below):
59
If the Ester parameter is activated it will also be active in the Gasoline-MMT method.
To deactivate the measurement of the ester content, please go to the menu System
– Password and enter GasEster:0 in the box Method Code.
Attention: If the Total Ester determination is active then the VOC calculation (as
described in the previous section) cannot be added!
60
3) During normal operation, when the temperature of the spectrometer has
changed by 1°C (1.8°F) since the last measurement of a reference spectrum.
That means that from time to time the ERASPEC starts a reference measurement
automatically, not only directly after switching on the instrument, but also during
normal operation.
If this happens, the display shows the measurement sequence described in “Turning
on the analyzer”.
Please wait until the reference determination is finished (it will take only about 60
seconds) before you perform further measurements of samples.
The date and time when the currently used reference spectrum was measured is
always displayed in the measurement menu below the button “REFERENCE”, in the
format YYMMDDhhmm:
In the example above, the currently used reference was measured on September 18,
2014, at 15:57 (5:57 am).
61
section “Turning on the analyzer”.
This function can also be used to rinse the system with a solvent. Put the sampling
tube into the solvent container and press EMPTY. The ERASPEC draws in solvent
and pumps it through the entire system.
Since the solvent stays in the system after that, it is necessary to flush the system
with air afterwards.
To do that, remove the sampling tube from the solvent container and press EMPTY
again.
When STOP is pressed, the pump immediately stops.
62
In the box Repeat, select the number N of measurements that shall be performed
and the time x (in seconds) between successive measurements.
x is the number of seconds between the end of test y and the start of next test. x
must be bigger than 10 (if x <10 is selected, then the instrument will wait 10 seconds
63
before starting the next measurement).
After the last measurement has been finished, the results of all measurements can
be viewed in the Result menu (see next Section).
ERASPEC usually takes spectral data during one single scan and calculates the
spectrum and all results based on this one scan.
However, in order to improve the Signal-to-Noise-ratio (SNR) of the spectrum and
thus to improve the repeatability, it is possible to perform more than one scan for a
measurement. The scans will be averaged, thus decreasing the noise in the data.
Ideally, by averaging N spectra, the noise will decrease by a factor of √N (square
root of N).
Each scan takes about 18 seconds, so each additional scan increases the time of
the measurement by 18 seconds.
To change the number of scans per measurement, press the OPTIONS button in the
Measure menu:
64
In the box Average, set the number N of scans that shall be averaged for one
measurement.
For all future measurements in the active method, the entered number of scans will
be performed and averaged.
If more than one method can be performed with the ERASPEC, the number of scans
65
has to be set for each method separately.
Appropriate solvents are all alkanes (such as heptane, octane) and components that
are free of aromatics, olefins and oxygenates (such as petrol ether).
In order to use the dilution function, go to the menu measure and press the
OPTIONS button:
66
First, the spectrum of the solvent needs to be measured and stored.
In the box on the bottom called “Dilution”, touch the button New. The keyboard will
pop up. Enter a name for the solvent that will be used. The name will then be
displayed with a number of zeroes:
67
Then put the inlet tube into the container with the solvent and press RUN: ERASPEC
will draw in the solvent and measure and store the spectrum automatically. At the
end of that measurement, the date and time will be displayed in front of the solvent
name:
Mix the sample that has high concentrations with the solvent in a ratio so the highest
expected concentration in the mixture falls within the range of ERASPEC.
Then enter this dilution ratio in Vol% into the ERASPEC:
68
In the example shown here, the mixture contains one part of sample (the left box)
and one part of solvent (the right box next to (Vol).
It is possible to enter any ratio but the parts must be a positive integer, no real
numbers are accepted (e.g., if you mix 1 part of sample in 2.5 parts solvent you must
enter a 2:5 ratio).
Press Ok to leave this menu and start a measurement with the diluted sample.
When the measurement is finished, the results are corrected so that the results of
the undiluted sample are displayed. A D in the warning field in the header of the
result list indicates that the measurement was done with the dilution option:
69
If pure, undiluted sample shall be measured after a measurement of a diluted
sample, then it is necessary to switch off the dilution option. This is done by selecting
off from the drop down list of solvents:
70
It is possible to measure and store several solvents. In this case, proceed as for the
first solvent to name a solvent measure its spectrum. A list of solvents will then be
created which can be used to dilute samples. Before a measurement of the diluted
sample is taken, the solvent that was used to dilute has to be selected from the drop
down list:
71
If a solvent and its spectrum shall be deleted, select this solvent from the list and
press delete.
72
9. Result menu
The results of all measurements are stored in the ERASPEC and can be viewed,
printed and saved to a memory stick any time in the Result menu.
Enter the Result menu by touching “Result” in the top line of the display:
The most recent result is always the first one on the list, and the first page that is
displayed shows the 15 newest results.
To view older results, use the button to browse down line by line, or the button
to move down by one entire page.
Holding the hard key in the middle that is the RUN key in the measurement menu
and touching the button while the hard key is pressed will jump down 100
results.
Similarly, to move up to newer results, the button moves the result list up by one
result, and use the button to move up one entire page. Pressing the middle
hard key and the button simultaneously will jump up 100 results.
With the button you can return to the first page (the newest 15 results), no
matter which page is currently displayed.
When the middle hard key and the button are pressed simultaneously you will
go to the last page (the oldest 15 results).
If more columns are shown than can be displayed, then the and buttons
73
can be used to move left and right. When the button is pressed, the display
moves one column to the left. Similarly, the button moves the display one
column to the right.
If the middle hard key is pressed and at simultaneously the button is touched,
the display will move so that the last column will be shown on the right side of the
display (i.e. it will move to the end).
If the middle hard key is pressed and at simultaneously the button is touched,
the display will move so that the first column will be shown on the left side of the
display (i.e. it will move to the front end).
The result menu table shows the measurements performed with the instrument. For
a quick overview and comparison of the most important parameters the displayed
columns can be customized. Each result corresponds to a line in this menu, and
parameters can be added to or deleted from this line using the “Column” function.
In the table on the left hand side named “available” (available table) all possible
parameters which can be shown in the result menu table are listed. In the table on
the right hand side named “selected” (selected table) all parameters are shown
which will be displayed in the result menu table.
74
To display parameters of interest in the result menu table select the desired
parameter in the available table and press “>>” to copy into the selected table.
Each parameter can be renamed in the Title text box, and the grid width can be set
in the Width text box. In the variation window different options are available for the
displayed parameter.
With the up and down buttons, the order of the parameters can be changed. Mark
the parameter you want to move by touching it, it will be marked green. Move it to
the desired position with the up and down button.
In the above shown example the date can be shown as Date, Time or Date and
Time.
If you want to display date and time in separate columns, add Date twice to the list
“selected” and check Date for one and Time for the other.
If DateTime is selected, date and time of the measurement will be shown in the
same column.
The single components and the sum parameters can be displayed in Vol% and/or
Mass% as shown in the above picture. If you want to show the concentration of
some component in Vol% as well as in Mass%, add this component twice to the list
“selected” and check Vol% for one and Mass% for the other.
Properties like MON, RON, IBP etc. can show the value, unit (e.g., C or F for
distillation temperatures) or correlation type (MLR, CA). Again, if you want to show
the value and the unit and/or the correlation type, please add the respective property
twice or three times and check the different boxes.
75
The parameters named Pxxxx, where the xxxx are numbers, are the amplitudes of
certain absorption peaks used for the calculation of Octane numbers and are usually
not of interest. They are displayed only at User level 6.
Press OK to store the new parameter order for the result table and to return to the
result menu.
By pressing Cancel, you will return to the result menu without storing any changes.
If the parameter Libs is selected in the Column menu, then the libraries that were
used for the measurement are shown in the Result menu. With the name, the
number of samples that were stored in the respective libraries at the time of the
measurement is shown in parentheses:
76
If the parameter File is selected in the Column menu, then the name of the file where
the interferogram and other raw data are stored on the ERASPEC is shown in the
Result menu:
77
If the parameter Warnings is selected in the Column menu, then the letter codes of
the warnings that appeared for that measurement are shown in the warning column
(the letter codes described in the Section “Warnings in the result list”):
To view a result stored in the memory, touch the grey box with the number on the
left-hand side of the display in the line of the result you want to see:
78
Use the bar on the right-hand side to scroll down to view the complete result list.
Press OK to return to the result display.
79
All parameters that shall be displayed have to appear in the right box “shown in
result screen”. Parameters that are shown in the left box “available” will not be
displayed in the result list.
Use the grey scroll bar on the right of the right-hand box labeled “shown in result
screen” to scroll down or up the list of substances and properties.
Touch the name of the substance or property for which a change shall be made:
80
The following functions and operations allow you to set the format and order of the
displayed results according to your needs and preferences:
81
concentration will not be displayed in the unmarked unit.
If both units are unmarked, the substance name will still be shown in the result
list, indicating that the respective substance was found in the sample, but no
concentration will be displayed.
In the Menu Result – Edit:Result, select the respective name in the right-hand box.
In the upper box, select the submenu Cal:
82
Enter the correction factor in the text box right of “gain”, and the offset vale in the box
right of “Offset”. Any future results for this substance or property will be corrected by
the gain and offset according to the above equation.
The default values are 1 for gain and 0 for the Offset.
If you do not want to use gain and offset at all for a parameter, it can be switched off
by unmarking the small box next to “use”. Switching gain and offset off is the same
as setting gain=1 and offset=0.
Usually, a calibration is valid over the entire range of a parameter. In rare cases, it
can be desirable to have two different calibrations. It is possible to divide the
calibration range in 2 parts and to define a gain and offset separately for each part.
To do so, check the box next to the small box “used” in the second line of the upper
display. The fields in the second line turn white then to indicate that values can be
entered there:
83
The first box in the second line is the upper limit for the first calibration, and at the
same time the lower limit for the second calibration.
If the measured value for the selected parameter is below that value, the entered
gain and offset values of the first line will be used to correct the result, if it is above
that value, the entered gain and offset values of the second line will be used to
correct the result.
84
Enter the desired lower limit into white box in the line “Warning if >”.
Enter the desired upper limit into white box in the line “Warning if <”.
If both upper and lower limit are entered, accepted range is thus defined.
If a measured parameter falls outside the limit, then an L in the warning field in the
header of the result list indicates that at least one parameter falls outside a limit. In
addition, the line of the respective parameter in the result list will be marked red for
each parameter that falls outside the defined limits:
85
9.3.3 Other limits
In addition to the limits defined in the previous section, there are other limits than can
be defined in the Edit:Result submenu for each parameter.
In the Menu Result – Edit:Result, select the respective name in the right-hand box.
In the upper box, select the submenu Limit:
86
The first line, “Set t 0 if < x” defines the lower limit of detection. If a value for a
parameter after a measurement is lower than the limit x defined in this line, then the
parameter is set to 0. This is necessary especially for the concentrations of various
substances. If this limit is set too low, then false positives will show up in the results
sometimes.
The default values for concentrations are 0.05 Vol% for benzene and 0.1 Vol% for
other aromatics and all oxygenates.
For the concentrations, the last line “Remove if k< x” contains a lower limit for the
coefficient with which the spectrum of the selected substance contributes to the
spectrum. If the coefficient is found to be lower than x, it is removed from the list of
results, irrespective of the limit set in the first line.
For aromatics, this limit x = 0.
For oxygenates, this limit x =0.15, corresponding to a lower limit of detection of about
0.6 Vol%.
or
DI = 1.5 * T10 + 3.0 * T50 + 1.0 * T90 + 1.33°C x CEthanol (Vol%)
87
(T10, T50, T90 in °C)
88
Method Gasoline: MMT Cal1=70
9.3.7 The RON and MON correction for Mn, Aniline, and NMA
MMT and CMT contain manganese which increases the octane numbers if added to
the gasoline even in very small quantities, like a few mg/l.
Aniline and N-Methylaniline also increase the RON and MON and need to be taken
into account for accurate calculations.
For these compounds, the increase in RON and MON can be calculated by a
formula. The respective formulae are:
The coefficients of these formulae can be changed. In the Menu Result – Edit:Result,
select RON or MON in the right-hand box. In the upper box, select the submenu Adv:
89
The coefficients for MMT/CMT are shown in the first line, the coefficients for
Aniline/NMA are shown in the first line.
If the values have been changed and you want to restore the original values given
above in the equations, press the default button.
The two parameters RONcorr and MONcorr are the original results from the
calculation with the library, without any MMT, CMT, Aniline or NMA correction.
In the Result menu, select the results to be printed by the line number and then
press the Print button.
The selected results are printed (for printer selection and configuration see “System
Menu”).
9.5 Saving results and raw data on a memory stick (flash drive)
To save results and raw data, i.e. the interferograms of all measurements and
references, connect a memory stick to any of the USB ports and wait a few seconds.
The memory stick is automatically mounted.
90
If the message “No memstick” on the bottom, please wait a few seconds until the
USB memory stick is mounted. Then this message disappears.
In extremely rare cases it may happen that the memory stick will not be mounted,
and then the “No memstick“ message will be shown all the time even though a
memory stick is connected. If that happens please switch the ERASPEC off and then
on again. Then the memory stick will be correctly mounted.
To store data, the directory on the memory stick in which data shall be stored has to
be defined.
The default directory is used if the box “default folder” is marked. This directory is
then shown in the line above and has the format
\results\eraspec\”Serial Number”\gas\
You can find the serial number of your instrument on the accompanying test sheet,
on the back of the instrument, or in the System menu (see the section “Instrument-
specific information”). It has the format ESxxxxxxx, where the x are numbers.
You can also use any other directory. Unmark the “default folder” box. Then the line
above becomes white, and it is now possible to enter the name of the desired
directory on the USB memory stick:
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If the directory in which the data shall be stored does not yet exist on the USB
memory stick, it will be created before data are stored.
To save the result.txt file, press the button “Copy result*.txt” in the upper left corner
of the display, and to store the raw data, press the button “Copy IFG”.
The file “result.txt” contains all results in csv (Comma Separated Variables) format.
One measurement is one line. This file can be read by Excel or other spreadsheet
programs.
If there are older versions of result files, they also will be stored on the memory stick
in the same directory as the current “result.txt” file.
The raw data will be saved to the two subdirectories …\ifg\ (for the sample spectra)
and …\rifg\ (for the reference spectra) which will be created in the defined directory.
While the data are transferred to the memory stick, the names of the files written on
the memory stick are shown on the bottom of the display.
When the data transfer is completed, press the button “Unmount” on the lower left
corner of the display, then the memory stick can safely be pulled out of the USB port.
The names of the raw data files consist of date and time of the measurement (in
format YYMMDDhhmm) and the sample ID with the extension .IFG.
The names of reference data files are consists only of date and time of the
measurement (in format YYMMDDhhmm) with the extension .RIFG.
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The transfer of raw data to the memory stick may take some time if many (several
hundred or more) measurements were taken with the ERASPEC. It is not necessary
to store all results every time. To have the possibility to select which raw data are
stored, the following options can be used by marking the respective small circle in
the box “IFG copy” in the upper right corner of the display:
all: All data will be transferred. If older data exist on the memory stick, the old data
will not be overwritten, but this will be checked for each result. If the option “Stop on
first match” is marked, however, all new data are stored on the memory stick until
ERASPEC finds a measurement that already exists on the memory stick, then the
transfer is stopped.
newest x: x can be entered in the rectangular box. Only the latest x measurements
will be stored on the memory stick if this option is selected
selected: only the data for a measurement or several measurements than are
selected in the Result menu are stored on the memory stick.
One result can be selected in the Result menu by touching its name. It will turn
green:
It is also possible to select several results by touching the latest or oldest result and,
keeping the finger or stylus pressed on the display, moving down to the oldest or up
to the newest result that shall be stored:
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9.5.1 The “result.txt” file
The file “result.txt” contains the results of all measurements of the ERASPEC Result
memory in csv format, as described in the previous section.
If a new “result.txt” file has been created in software versions 139 or higher, as
described in the section “Creating a new “result.txt” file”, then the names of the
columns and their meanings in this new file are as follows:
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p-Xyle.m: The measured concentration of p-xylene in Mass%
m-Xyle: The measured concentration of m-xylene in Vol%
m-Xyle.m: The measured concentration of m-xylene in Mass%
Ethylb: The measured concentration of ethylbenzene in Vol%
Ethylb.m: The measured concentration of ethylbenzene in Mass%
Propyl: The measured concentration of propylbenzene in Vol%
Propyl.m: The measured concentration of propylbenzene in Mass%
2-Ethy: The measured concentration of 2-ethyltoluene in Vol%
2-Ethy.m: The measured concentration of 2-ethyl toluene in Mass%
3-Ethy: The measured concentration of 3-ethyltoluene in Vol%
3-Ethy.m: The measured concentration of 3-ethyl toluene in Mass%
4-Ethy: The measured concentration of 4-ethyltoluene in Vol%
4-Ethy.m: The measured concentration of 4-ethyl toluene in Mass%
Mesity: The measured concentration of mesitylene in Vol%
Mesity.m: The measured concentration of mesitylene in Mass%
Pseudo: The measured concentration of pseudocumene in Vol%
Pseudo.m: The measured concentration of pseudocumene in Mass%
Hemell: The measured concentration of hemellitol in Vol%
Hemell.m: The measured concentration of hemellitol in Mass%
Durene: The measured concentration of durene in Vol%
Durene.m: The measured concentration of durene in Mass%
Naphth: The measured concentration of naphthalene in Vol%
Naphth.m: The measured concentration of naphthalene in Mass%
N-Meth: The measured concentration of N-methlyaniline in Vol%
N-Meth.m: The measured concentration of N-methlyaniline in Mass%
MTBE: The measured concentration of MTBE in Vol%
MTBE.m: The measured concentration of MTBE in Mass%
ETBE: The measured concentration of ETBE in Vol%
ETBE.m: he measured concentration of ETBE in Mass%
TAME: The measured concentration of TAME in Vol%
TAME.m: The measured concentration of TAME in Mass%
DIPE: The measured concentration of DIPE in Vol%
DIPE.m: The measured concentration of DIPE in Mass%
Methan: The measured concentration of methanol in Vol%
Methan.m: The measured concentration of methanol in Mass%
Ethano: The measured concentration of ethanol in Vol%
Ethano.m: The measured concentration of ethanol in Mass%
2-Prop: The measured concentration of 2-propanol in Vol%
2-Prop.m: The measured concentration of 2-propanol in Mass%
2-Buta: The measured concentration of 2-butanol in Vol%
2-Buta.m: The measured concentration of 2-butanol in Mass%
tert-B: The measured concentration of tert-butanol in Vol%
tert-B.m: The measured concentration of tert-butanol in Mass%
Dimethylcarbonate: The measured concentration of Dimethylcarbonate in Vol%
Dimethylcarbonate.m: The measured concentration of Dimethylcarbonate in Mass%
Dimethoxymethane: The measured concentration of Dimethoxymethane in Vol%
Dimethoxymethane.m:The measured concentration of Dimethoxymethane in Mass%
Oxygen: The measured concentration of oxygene in Mass%
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Oxygena: The measured total concentration of oxygenates in Vol%
Oxygena.m: The measured total concentration of oxygenates in Mass%
Aromat: The measured total concentration of aromatics in Vol%
Aromat.m: The measured total concentration of aromatics in Mass%
Olefin: The measured concentration of olefins (alkenes) in Vol%
Olefin.m: The measured concentration of olefins (alkenes) in Mass%
Satura: The measured total concentration of saturates (alkanes) in Vol%
Satura.m: The measured total concentration of saturates (alkanes) in Mass%
AKI: The calculated Anti Knock Index (AKI=(RON+MON)/2)
DI: The calculated Driveability Index
DI.u: The unit of the Driveability Index (usually °F)
VOC: The calculated VOC value for normal emitters
VOC high: The calculated VOC value for high emitters
Mangan: The measured concentration of manganese (from MMT) in mg/kg
Mangan.u: The unit of the measured manganese concentration (usually mg/kg)
MMT: The measured concentration of MMT in mg/kg
MMMT.u: The unit of the measured MMT concentration (usually mg/kg)
Maha: The Mahalanobis distance calculated from the sample and the data
base
RON: The calculated Research Octane Number RON
MON: The calculated Motor Octane Number MON
IBP: The calculated ASTM D86 Initial Boiling Point IBP
T10: The calculated ASTM D86 T10 temperature
T50: The calculated ASTM D86 T50 temperature
T90: The calculated ASTM D86 T90 temperature
FBP: The calculated ASTM D86 Final Boiling Point FBP
FREE01-
FREE10 The values for the up to 10 freely selected parameters FREE01 to
FREE10
If a free parameter was renamed, then the name under which is displayed appears
also in the header of the result.txt file.
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If ERASPEC is set to Russian, Chinese or any other language that does not use
English characters, then make sure that the Codepage for Output Files is set to UTF-
8 on the ERASPEC (see the section “Setting the language and output file format”).
Then in the right box on the PC, select Unicode (UTF-8).
For Russian characters, it is also possible to define the Codepage on ERASPEC to
KOI-8R. If that is the case, then KOI8-R has to be selected on the PC as well.
If the sample and Operator names are in English characters, then it is not necessary
to set UTF-8. The default mode will be sufficient to display the names correctly:
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Click on continue. In the next screen, select Semicolon as separator:
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Touch the button New result file on the lower left:
The box on the left side “available” shows the parameters that are available and
whose values can be stored in the “result.txt” file.
The box on the right side “selected” shows the parameters that have been selected
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and that will be stored in the “result.txt” file.
To add a parameter to the “selected” box, touch its name in the “available” box and
move it to the “selected” box with the button >> (the name will remain in the
“available” box because parameters can be used in the “selected” box several times,
as explained below).
To remove a parameter from the “selected” box, touch its name in the “selected” box
and press the button “del”. It will only be deleted from the “selected” box, not in the
“available” box so that it can be added again any time later.
In the “selected” box, the full name with the selected option (unit, warning, etc.) will
be shown.
To get more information about a selected parameter, touch its name in the “selected”
box. It will be marked green, and in the upper half of the display the following
information is shown:
Title: This is the title of the respective column in the “result.txt” file for the
selected parameter. This is a specific, short name that cannot be
changed.
Variation box: The options that are available for the selected parameters are
shown. The checkboxes indicate which option has been
selected.
If a parameter shall be stored in the “result.txt” file more than once (e.g. if a
concentration shall be stored in Volume% and Mass%), then this parameter can be
added several times, and the respective options can be selected in the variation box.
The options for different parameters are:
To save the new format of the “result.txt” file, press OK. A beep will sound to indicate
that a new “result.txt” file has been created. The old result.txt file will be renamed to
resultyymmddhhmm.txt, where yymmddhhmm is the current date and time.
From the next measurement on, the results will be stored in the new “result.txt” file in
the selected format.
If a memory stick is connected to one of the USB connectors on the rear panel that
has a subdirectory “spec” (small letters!) in the directory \results\eraspec\, then the
absorbance spectrum will be saved on the memory stick after each measurement.
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ATTENTION: The ERASPEC operating system may take up to 1 minute after the
measurement is finished before the spectrum is written to the memory stick. Please
wait for one minute after the measurement before you remove the memory stick from
the ERASPEC. Only then it is ensured that the spectrum is correctly stored on the
memory stick!
The name of the absorbance spectrum consists of date and time of the
measurement (in format YYMMDDhhmm) and the sample ID with the extension .spc.
The file contains a header, and then the absorbance values are written in one row to
this file. The header has 5 lines, and 5900 absorbance values are written in ASCII
format. Excel or any graphics program can be used to visualize the spectrum.
The spectrum file does not contain wave numbers. The first data point corresponds
to a wave number of 631 cm-1, the last data point to 4015 cm-1, and the increment
between successive absorbance values is 2349 / 4095 cm -1 = 0.5736 cm-1.
If the memory stick does not have the subdirectory “spec”, no spectra will be stored!
If you have sample with known properties such as RON, MON, vapor pressure,
and/or distillation, it is easily possible to add this sample to the data base.
It is strongly recommended to add such samples that are typical for the gasolines
that you are testing. Adding such representative samples is necessary to improve
the accuracy of the results for the calculated properties (RON, MON, Distillation,
vapor pressure).
Perform a normal measurement with the known sample, as described in the section
“Taking measurements”. After the measurement is finished, you can either measure
additional samples with known properties, or go directly to the results menu.
Select the sample you want to add to the library by touching the line where this
sample is displayed. The selected sample line is then marked green:
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Press the button “Add to Lib”. The display shows then a list of all possible properties
that are calculated with the help of the data base:
In the first line “LIBRARY”, you can select the data base to which the selected
sample shall be added. Touch the grey box right of the white text box that displays
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the name of an active data base, and the list of all available libraries will drop down:
To enter the known value of a property, touch the box Value in the line of the
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parameter whose value shall be entered. The keyboard will pop up, and now the
known value for this property can be entered.
In this way, enter all known values for each property.
If a value for a property is not known, leave the respective Value box blank. A blank
box indicates to the instrument that the respective value is not known for this sample,
and it then uses this sample only for calculations of these properties for which values
have been entered.
After all known properties have been entered, press OK to save this new sample in
the selected data base and to return to the result menu.
If “Cancel” is pressed, the process is cancelled, no new sample will be stored in the
data base, and you will return to the result menu.
A data base can be edited on the instrument itself, as described in the section “The
library editor”.
The data base can also be exported to a memory stick, as described in the section
“Export of libraries to a memory stick (flash drive)”.
The library file can then be opened and edited using Excel.
Any new or altered library then can be imported from a memory stick, as described in
the section “Import of libraries from a memory stick (flash drive)”.
The function described here is accessible only for user levels 5 and higher!
As explained in the section “Results for calculated properties: CA and MLR”, the
ERASPEC performs the MLR calculation if Cluster Analysis cannot be applied. For
this calculation, several spectra areas that highly correlate with the calculated
properties are selected.
A specific selection of spectral areas is called a “model”.
This selection or model may be changed if components are present in the gasolines
that are not included in the standard MLR model or vice versa.
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In the Result menu, press the button Edit: Result:
In the right text white box, select the parameter for which the model shall be changed
by touching the name of this parameter, then select the submenu Corr. in the upper
box:
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The correlation method can be selected by checking the CLU and/or MLR box. CLU
is Cluster Analysis (CA). Usually both MLR and CLU are selected.
There are two types of MLR implemented in the ERASPEC, as shown in the box
Type x.
Type 1 was exclusively used for all ERASPECs with software version 174 or lower.
Type 2 is an additional option for all ERASPECs with software version 175 or higher.
If libraries are used that were created with software version 174 or lower, then
ERASPEC continues to use Type 1.
If only libraries are used that were created with software version 175 or higher, then
ERASPEC uses Type 2.
In the line MLR, the number displayed in the white text box next to “PeakVec”
indicates the model that is used for the MLR calculation. 12 standard models are
available for different types of gasolines and different properties.
Please refer to the section “Standard MLR models” below for a detailed description
of the available standard models. If the model for the selected parameter shall be
changed to a different standard model, please enter the number of the desired
standard model in the white text box next to “PeakVec” in the line MLR.
For each calculated parameter, the model can be changed in this way, as described
in more detail in the Section ”Changing and creating an MLR model” below.
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Press the “Ok” button to save the changes and to return to the Result menu.
If you press “Cancel”, the changes made will not be saved, and you will return to the
Result menu.
The following table gives the standard models available in the ERASPEC for Type 1:
0 IBP, T10, T50, T90 for Const, Density, P0078, P0111, P0170,
gasolines without alkylate, P0194, P0239, P0263, P0286, P0305,
with MTBE and/or Ethanol P0447, P0487, P0583, P0682, P0695,
P0733, P0797, P0803, P0999, P1303
1 RON, MON, FBP for gasolines Const, Density, P0078, P0111, P0170,
without alkylate, with MTBE P0194, P0239, P0263, P0286, P0305,
and/or Ethanol P0447, P0487, P0583, P0733, P0797,
P0803, P1303
2 Aromatics for all types of Const, P0078, P0111, P0170, P0194,
gasoline P0239, P0263, P0286, P0305, P170q
3 Olefins for all types of Const, P0447, P0487, P0583
gasoline
4 IBP, T10, T50, T90 for Const, Density, P0078, P0111, P0170,
gasolines without alkylate, P0194, P0239, P0263, P0286, P0305,
with MTBE and/or Ethanol P0447, P0487, P0583, P0682, P0695,
and/or ETBE P0733, P0777, P0797, P0803, P0999,
P1303
5 RON, MON, FBP for gasolines Const, Density, P0078, P0111, P0170,
without alkylate, with MTBE P0194, P0239, P0263, P0286, P0305,
and/or Ethanol and/or ETBE P0447, P0487, P0583, P0733, P0777,
P0797, P0803, P1303
6 IBP, T10, T50, T90 for Density, P0078, P0111, P0170,
gasolines with alkylate, P0194, P0239, P0263, P0286, P0305,
without oxygenates P0447, P0487, P0583, P0682, P0695,
P1303, P0856, P0939
7 RON, MON, FBP for gasolines Const, Density, P0078, P0111, P0170,
with alkylate, without P0194, P0239, P0263, P0286, P0305,
oxygenates P0447, P0487, P0583, P1303, P0856,
P0939
8 IBP, T10, T50, T90 for Density, P0078, P0111, P0170,
gasolines with alkylate, with P0194, P0239, P0263, P0286, P0305,
MTBE and/or Ethanol and/or P0447, P0487, P0583, P0682, P0695,
ETBE P0733, P0777, P0797, P0803, P0999,
P1303, P0856, P0939
9 RON, MON, FBP for gasolines Const, Density, P0078, P0111, P0170,
with alkylate, with MTBE P0194, P0239, P0263, P0286, P0305,
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and/or Ethanol and/or ETBE P0447, P0487, P0583, P0733, P0777,
P0797, P0803, P1303, P0856, P0939
10 IBP, T10, T50, T90, FBP for Const, Density, P0078, P0111, P0170,
gasolines without alkylate, P0194, P0239, P0263, P0286, P0305,
with MTBE P0447, P0487, P0583, P0682, P0695,
P0797, P1303, P170q
11 RON, MON, Distillation for Const, Density, P0078, P0111, P0170,
gasolines with alkylate, with P0194, P0239, P0263, P0286, P0305,
MTBE and/or Ethanol and/or P0447, P0487, P0583, P0682, P0695,
TAME P0733, P0797, P0976, P1303, P170q,
P0856, P0939
12 IBP, T10, T50, T90 for Density, P0078, P0111, P0170,
gasolines with alkylate, with P0194, P0239, P0263, P0286, P0305,
MTBE and/or Ethanol P0447, P0487, P0583, P0682, P0695,
P0733, P0797, P0803, P1303, P0856,
P1075
13 RON, MON and FBP for Density, P0078, P0111, P0170,
gasolines with alkylate, with P0194, P0239, P0263, P0286, P0305,
MTBE and/or Ethanol P0447, P0487, P0583, P0733, P0797,
P0803, P1303, P0856, P1075
The table below gives the standard models available in the ERASPEC for Type 0:
0 RON, MON, IBP, T10, T50, Const, Density, A0078, A0111, A0170,
T90, FBP: for all gasolines A0194, A0239, A0263, A0286, A0305,
A0447, A0487, A0587, A0682, A0695,
A0733, A0777, A0794, A0803, A1702,
A0856, A0939, A1075, D1303
1 RON, MON, IBP, T10, T50, Const, Density, A0078, A0111, A0170,
T90, FBP: for gasolines that A0194, A0239, A0263, A0286, A0305,
contain ester (or acetates) A0447, A0487, A0587, A0682, A0695,
A0733, A0777, A0794, A0803, A1702,
A0856, A0939, A1075, D1303,
PESTER
2 Aromatics for all types of Const, A0078, A0111, A0170, A0194,
gasoline A0239, A0263, A0286, A0305, A170q
3 Olefins for all types of Const, A0447, A0487, A0583
gasoline
Standard models are defined for types of gasolines for which a factory data base is
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available.
It may be desirable to create or change a new model, e.g. if a new oxygenate is
present in gasolines for which currently no factory data base and hence no standard
model are available.
In the Result menu, press the button “Result” and select a calculated property. Then
press the green “..“ button next to PeakVec in the line MLR:
In the white numeric text box below Nr, select either the Nr of the existing standard
model that shall be changed (see the section “Standard MLR models” above for a
table of available standard models), or a number between 12 and 20 to create a new
model.
In the white box “used for MLR”, the peak areas that are currently defined for the
selected model are displayed.
In the white box “available”, all additionally available peak areas are shown.
To add a peak area to the model, touch the respective name in the box “available”. It
will be marked green. Then move this selected peak area to the box “used for MLR”
by touching the button “>>”.
Repeat this for all peaks that shall be added to the selected model.
To remove a peak area from the model, touch the respective name in the box “used
for MLR”. It will be marked green. Then move this selected peak area to the box
“available” by touching the button “<<”.
Repeat this for all peaks that shall be removed from the selected model.
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Press “Ok” to save this model.
If “cancel” is pressed, the changes will not be saved.
In order to actually use a new model for a calculated property, the correct number of
the model has to be entered.
Select the name of the calculated property from the list in the box “shown in result
screen”:
Then change the number in the white box next to PeakVec in the line MLR to the
number of the desired model.
Repeat this procedure for all calculated properties for which a new model shall be
used.
Press “Ok” to save these changes or “Cancel” to leave this menu without saving.
In the line CLU, the number displayed in the white text box next to “Iterations”
indicates the number of iterations that will be made, with increasing acceptance
limits, to find a matching spectrum from the library as described in the section
“Cluster Analysis: CA1, CA2, and CA3”.
Usually 3 such iterations are made. If more or fewer iterations shall be performed,
then please set the number in the “Iterations” box to the number of desired iterations:
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The number of iterations has to be set separately for each parameter that is
calculated by CA.
In order to find a possible match, all peaks that are stored in the library are used to
compare to the unknown spectrum. Only if all peaks are sufficiently close, then a
spectrum is accepted for Cluster Analysis.
If, for some reason, not all peaks shall be used for Cluster Analysis, it is possible to
exclude one or several peaks.
In the line CLU, the number displayed in the white text box next to “PeakVec” is
usually 0, meaning that all peaks are used for the comparison.
To exclude peaks, set this number to a different value:
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Then touch the green box “..” next to PeakVec. The list of peaks that are used for CA
is shown:
Move the peaks that shall not be used from the right box to the left box labeled
“available”:
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Press OK to store this new selection. The peaks moved over to the left box will not
be used to determine if a spectrum stored in the library is sufficiently close to the
unknown spectrum.
The PeakVec for CA has to be set separately for each parameter that is calculated
by CA!
For the calculated properties RON, MON, Aromatics, Olefins, IBP, T10, T50, T90,
and FBP (and for software version 200 and higher also vapor pressure), a factory
data base is available. These parameters are therefore standard parameters.
It may be desirable to calculate other properties from the infrared spectrum that are
not included in the factory data base and are no standard parameters.
An example is the distillation property “Evaporated at xxx”, where xxx defines a
certain temperature. This temperature is defined in °Fahrenheit in some countries
and in °Celsius in others, and the specifications also vary from country to country.
Therefore it is not possible to define standard parameters for the property
“Evaporated at xxx”.
The ERASPEC has 10 additional “free” parameters that can be renamed and used in
the data base to make it possible to calculate additional properties.
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Of course, at least 40 samples with known values for these new properties have to
be added to the data base, as described in the section “Adding a sample to the data
base”, before results for these additional properties will be calculated.
In order to add such a new parameter, go to the Result menu and press Edit: Result:
The additional parameters are shown in the box “available” and are labeled
“FREE01” through “FREE10”.
Select the “free” parameter by touching it, it will be marked green. Then move it to
the box “shown in result screen” using the “>>” button. It will appear at the end of the
list.
Select this parameter again by touching it.
In the upper box in the submenu Name, its name can be changed in the white text
box “shown as”.
If it is a concentration, check to box “vol/mass” and select the options how it shall be
displayed in the result list.
If it is any other parameter, enter its unit in the text box “unit” (e.g. for E200 or E100,
the unit could be V% or Vol%).
The number of decimal digits is one of the newly defined free parameter is 1.
However, if a parameter requires more or less decimal digits, the number of digits
can be defines as follows:
In the box unit, enter a minus ( - ), then the number of desired number of decimal
digits, and then the name of the unit, as shown in the example below (for the
viscosity unit mPas and 4 digits after the comma):
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If -0unit is entered, then the respective free parameter is displayed as integer.
Please go to the menu submenu Adv. The check boxes MLR and CLU should be
marked.
The MLR model that shall be used for the calculation of this newly defined parameter
has to be selected by entering the number of the desired model in the white text box
near “PeakVec”, as described in the section “Selecting a different standard MLR
model”.
If no standard model is applicable, create a new appropriate model, as described in
the section “Changing and creating a model”, and select the number of this new
model.
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stick, as described in the section “Saving results on a memory stick”, before
deleting any results on the ERASPEC!
Please use this function cautiously.
Select a result in the Result menu by touching its name. It will turn green:
It is also possible to select several results by touching the latest or oldest result and,
keeping the finger or stylus pressed on the display, moving down to the oldest or up
to the newest result that shall be marked:
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Then press the Save button:
To delete the selected result or results, press the button delete selected files in the
first line.
To delete the selected result and all results that are older than this one, press the
button delete all files: selection and older in the second line.
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10. Method EN238 for benzene
ERASPEC offers in addition to the normal gasoline analysis an optional method to
determine benzene in gasoline, the European Norm EN238.
Since the gasoline is diluted at least 1:25 with cyclohexane, the absorption cell that
is used for the normal gasoline analysis cannot be used for EN238 because the
signals would be too small. A cell with a longer pathlength needs to be used.
For all EN238 related measurements (reference and samples), this longer
pathlength cell is required.
Therefore, the ERASPEC has to be equipped with both the normal and the longer
pathlength cell in order to be able to perform EN238 measurents.
For the determination of benzene according to EN 238, please select the method
“EN238” from the drop-down menu (please note that for the selection of a method,
the user level has to be 5 or higher, see the section “Selection of a method”):
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Before any EN238 measurements can be taken, a reference spectrum has to be
measured.
Insert the sampling tube into the cyclohexane container and press REFERENCE.
The instrument selects the correct absorption cell, fills cyclohexane, and performs
the measurement. The sequence shown on the display is the same as for a regular
measurement and is described in detail in the section “Taking measurements”.
The date and time when the currently used reference spectrum was measured is
always displayed in the measurement menu below the button “REFERENCE”, in the
format YYMMDDhhmm:
In the example above, the currently used reference was measured on January 21,
2013, at 14:55 (2:55 pm).
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“Dilution”:
If a different dilution factor is used that is not offered in the drop-down list, please
touch the white box in the line Dilution 1: x. Then the keyboard pops up, and the
correct dilution factor can be entered.
EN238 results are given in Vol%. However, it is possible to convert the Vol% to
Mass% (Weight%) if the density of the undiluted gasoline is known.
ERASPEC cannot determine the density of the undiluted sample, because only the
diluted sample is injected. Therefore the density of the undiluted gasoline has to be
determined separately and entered into the instrument prior to starting the
measurement if the benzene concentration shall be displayed both in Vol and
Mass%.
Touch the white text box “Density gasoline”. Enter the gasoline density in the unit
that is selected on the ERASPEC (see the section “Set-up of date and time and
units”) using the pop-up keyboard.
After that, insert the sampling tube into the container with the diluted gasoline and
press “RUN”.
The instrument selects the correct absorption cell, fills sample, and performs the
measurement. The sequence shown on the display is the same as for a regular
measurement and is described in detail in the section “Taking measurements”.
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At the same time the results are also saved in the result memory (see the section
“Result menu for the optional method EN238” below).
If RUN is pressed, the next measurement is started with the same sample ID and
operator name as was used for the previous sample.
Press OK to return to the measuring screen. The density (of the diluted sample!) and
temperatures of density meter and sample cell from the last measurement are
displayed:
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10.3 Result menu for the optional method EN238
The results for benzene determinations according to EN238 are stored in a separate
EN238 results menu. If method EN238 is selected in the measurement menu (see
the section “Selection of a method”), then this results menu will automatically be
selected.
Enter the Result menu by touching “Result” in the top line of the display:
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10.3.1 The EN238 Result menu table
The result menu table can be customized in exactly the same manner as described
in the Section “Customizing the Result menu table”. However, since EN238 gives as
the only result the benzene concentration, only benzene has any meaning. All other
components and properties should not be selected.
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Press OK to return to the result display.
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The following functions and operations allow you to set the format of the displayed
results according to your needs and preferences:
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10.3.4 Printing EN238 results
The printing is the same as for the “gasoline method” and is described in the section
“Printing results”.
10.3.5 Saving EN238 results and raw data on a memory stick (flash drive)
The results and raw data, i.e. the interferograms of all measurements and
references, can be stored on a connected USB memory stick as described in the
section “Saving results and raw data on a memory stick (flash drive)” for the gasoline
method.
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The box on the left side “available” shows the parameters that are available and
whose values can be stored in the “result.txt” file.
The box on the right side “selected” shows the parameters that have been selected
and that will be stored in the “result.txt” file.
To add a parameter to the “selected” box, touch its name in the “available” box and
move it to the “selected” box with the button >> (the name will remain in the
“available” box because parameters can be used in the “selected” box several times,
as explained below).
To remove a parameter from the “selected” box, touch its name in the “selected” box
and press the button “del”. It will only be deleted from the “selected” box, not in the
“available” box so that it can be added again any time later.
In the “selected” box, the full name with the selected option (unit, warning, etc.) will
be shown.
To get more information about a selected parameter, touch its name in the “selected”
box. It will be marked green, and in the upper half of the display the following
information is shown:
Title: This is the title of the respective column in the “result.txt” file for the
selected parameter. This is a specific, short name that cannot be
changed.
Variation box: The options that are available for the selected parameters are
shown. The checkboxes indicate which option has been
selected.
If a parameter shall be stored in the “result.txt” file more than once (e.g. if the
concentration shall be stored in Volume% and Mass%), then this parameter can be
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added several times, and the respective options can be selected in the variation box.
The options for the benzene concentration are:
Vol% Mass% Warnings
To save the new format of the “result.txt” file, press OK. A beep will sound to indicate
that a new “result.txt” file has been created. The old result.txt file will be renamed to
resultyymmddhhmm.txt, where yymmddhhmm is the current date and time.
From the next measurement on, the results will be stored in the new “result.txt” file in
the selected format.
If a memory stick is connected to one of the USB connectors on the rear panel that
has a subdirectory “spec” (small letters!) in the directory \results\eraspec\, then the
absorbance spectrum will be saved on the memory stick after each measurement.
The name of the absorbance spectrum consists of date and time of the
measurement (in format YYMMDDhhmm) and the sample ID with the extension .spc.
The file contains a header, and then the absorbance values are written in one row to
this file. The header has 5 lines, and 5900 absorbance values are written.
The spectrum file does not contain wavenumbers. The first data point corresponds to
a wavenumber of 631 cm-1, the last data point to 4015 cm-1, and the increment
between successive absorbance values is 0.5736 cm-1.
If the memory stick does not have the subdirectory “spec”, no spectra will be stored!
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In the submenu Cal, two parameters called offset and gain can be defined:
In the submenu Adv, the linear calibration constant Cal1 can be defined:
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The EN238 calibration equation for benzene in cyclohexane is defined as:
B = (A – b) / m
ERASPEC has the values for b and m stored in the following format:
Offset = b
Cal1 = 1/m
ATTENTION: The parameters “gain” and “Cal1” have to be set to gain = 1 and
Cal1 = 1, and the parameter “Offset” has to be set to Offset = 0 when the test
solutions (benzene in cyclohexane) are measured on the ERASPEC!
Enter this new set of calibration constants in the respective boxes “Offset” and “Cal1”
by touching the white text box next to the respective parameter and entering the new
values with the pop-up keyboard.
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“gain” is a factor used to modify the original calibration equation, so that the equation
actually used is:
If small deviations from the expected benzene concentrations are measured, this
factor “gain” can be used to correct such deviations.
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11. The Gasoline-MMT method
This method is an option for instruments that are equipped with a 2 position
absorption cell, as is usually used for combined Gasoline-Diesel analyzers.
In this method, all concentrations and properties of the gasoline are measured with
the gasoline cell, just as in the normal gasoline method, except for MMT and CMT.
The MMT and CMT concentrations are measured with a second data scan using the
Diesel cell. Since the Diesel cell has a longer path length, the accuracy and precision
of the MMT and CMT measurement is better.
From this measured MMT or CMT concentration, the Manganese concentration and
the increase of RON and MON due to the Manganese are calculated.
To use this method, select the method “Gasoline-MMT” from the drop-down list
FUEL TYPE in the Measure menu:
If a measurement is started, the measurement sequence will be the same as for the
Gasoline method described so far in this manual. However, after the first data scan
with the Gasoline cell, the instrument switches to the Diesel cell and waits for the IR
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detector to stabilize. Then a second data scan is performed, and after that, the
results will be displayed in the same format as for the normal gasoline method:
All other functions, operations and formats are the same as for the normal gasoline
method, as described in this manual.
However, the methods Gasoline and Gasoline-MMT are internally strictly separated,
so that the results memory, libraries, results.txt files and other settings and files are
NOT shared.
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12. The Gasoline-CG method
12.1 Description
CG stands for Contamination in Gasoline.
This method is an option for instruments that are equipped with a 2 position
absorption cell, as is usually used for combined Gasoline-Diesel analyzers.
In this method, all concentrations and properties of the gasoline are measured with
the gasoline cell, just as in the normal gasoline method. In addition, a second data
scan using the Diesel cell is made, and the substances listed in Table 12.1. are
determined from the IR spectrum this second scan.
Since the Diesel cell has a longer path length, the detection limit for these
substances is lower.
Table 12.1 Detection limits of the substances measured through the Diesel cell
Substance Detection limit (Vol%)
Diolefins 0.2
Ester (Total Ester) 0.08
Total Anilines 0.2
If the concentration of any of the substances listed in Table 12.1 is higher than a
certain limit, then the concentration measured through the gasoline cell will be
displayed.
If the concentration of any of the substances listed in Table 12.1 is lower than a
certain limit, then the concentration measured through the Diesel cell will be
displayed.
All other parameters are calculated and displayed normally as in the Gasoline
method.
However, the methods Gasoline and Gasoline-CG are internally strictly separated,
so that the results memory, libraries, results.txt files and other settings and files are
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NOT shared.
The total measurement time for the Gasoline-CG method is about 90 seconds.
ATTENTION: The VOC calculation is not available and not possible in the Gasoline-
CG method!
In the Measure menu, please select the method “Gasoline-CG” from the drop-down
list in the line FUEL TYPE:
The measurement procedure and sequence are the same as for the Gasoline
method, but after the first data scan, the cell is moved to the second position, then a
second data scan is performed. Therefore the total time for one measurement is
about 90 seconds.
After the measurement is finished, the result list is shown on the display:
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The only difference to the normal Gasoline measurement is that smaller
concentrations of the substances listed in Table 12.1 can be detected and displayed.
High concentrations of the substances listed in Table 12.1 are calculated from the
Gasoline cell spectrum, as in the Gasoline method, and small concentrations of
these compounds are calculated from the Diesel cell spectrum. For each substance
of Table 12.1, a concentration limit is defined.
If the concentration calculated from the Gasoline cell spectrum is higher than this
limit for a substance, then this concentration is displayed in the result list.
If the concentration calculated from the Gasoline cell spectrum is lower than this limit
for a substance, then the concentration will be recalculated from the Diesel cell
spectrum and then displayed in the result list.
Since the concentration of the substances listed in Table 12.1 may be calculated
either from the Gasoline or the Diesel cell spectrum, two different calibrations are
needed. Both these calibrations can also be modified separately using a gain factor
and an offset, i.e. the concentration is calculated according to the formula
where Cmod (Vol%) is the modified concentration that will be displayed as result, and
Corig (Vol%) is the concentration originally calculated based on the factory calibration
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of the respective substances.
To modify the calibrations or limits, please go to the menu Result and press the
button Edit:Result:
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Select the submenu Cal:
The first box in the lower line “if >” shows the concentration limit for the selected
substance.
The other two boxes in the lower line show Offset and Gain for the Gasoline cell
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calibration, i.e. for concentrations higher than the limit.
The two boxes in the upper line show Offset and Gain for the Diesel cell calibration,
i.e. for small concentrations lower than the limit.
To change any of these values, click on the respective box and enter the desired
new value using the keyboard that pops up on the display.
Leave this menu with the “Ok” button to store any changes, or with the “Cancel”
button to restore the original values.
The calibration constants Cal1,1 and Cal1,2 from the formula above are the factory
calibration constants. They are shown in the submenu Adv in the two boxes next to
Cal1:
They can be altered, too, but that has the same effect as changing Gain and Offset.
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It is recommended to leave Cal1,x unchanged and use Gain and/or Offset in the
Cals submenu if any correction to the calibration shall be made.
All other functions and features in the Result and Measure menu work as for the
Gasoline method.
Please refer to the section Gasoline Analyzer for a description of the respective
menus.
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.
13. Description
The ERASPEC Diesel analyzer follows in each detail the requirements of the latest
European standard EN 14078 and measures the following parameters:
Concentrations:
Biodiesel (FAME) (ASTM 7806, Aromatics
EN14078) Polynuclear Aromatics (PNA)
FAEE Cetane Improver (2-EHN)
Vegetable oil
Density 0.500 – 1.999 g/cm3 (direct measurement with a built-in Anton Paar density
module according to IP 559, correl. ASTM D 4052)
Properties:
Cetane number (correlation to ASTM D 613)
Cetane Index (correlation to ASTM D 976 and ASTM D 4737)
Distillation points (correlation to ASTM D 86): IBP, T10, T50, T85, T90, T95, FBP
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13.1 Diesel analyzer specifications
Biodiesel (FAME,
0.1 – 65 Vol% 0.07 Vol% 0.2 Vol% 0-10 Vol% 0.08 Vol%
FAEE)
0.12 Vol% 0.3 Vol% 10 - 30 Vol% -
Vegetable Oil 0.8 – 65 Vol% 0.12 Vol% 0.3 Vol% 7 Vol% 0.8 Vol%
Total Aromatics 0.5 – 60 Vol% 0.13 Vol% 0.3 Vol% @ 20 Vol% 0.5 Vol%
Polynuclear
0.5 – 50 Vol% 0.03 Vol% 0.1 Vol% @ 5 Vol% 0.5 Vol%
Aromatics (PNA)
Standard
Parameter Range Deviation Repeatability at:
Density 0.5 – 1.999 gcm-3 0.0002 gcm-3 0.0006 gcm-3 0.7800 gcm-3
NOTE 1: The range and repeatability for calculated parameters (RON, MON, AKI) depend
on the database used.
NOTE 2: The quoted repeatabilities are measured with one scan per measurement. The
repeatability can be improved by averaging 2 or more scans per measurement.
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14. Measurement menu
After the analyzer is powered and is ready to start measurements, the measurement
menu appears on the display:
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14.2 Selection of a data base (Library)
For the calculation of cetane numbers, aromatics, distillation properties and other
parameters, the ERASPEC needs a library or data base that contains spectra and
known values for these calculated properties.
It is very important that this data base contains samples that are representative of
the samples under test. Please refer to the section “Adding a sample to the data
base” for a description of the procedure to add samples to the data base.
In some situations, it is useful to use different libraries for different sample classes
(e.g. different process streams or different diesel types). If more than one such data
bases exits, the library or libraries that will be used for a measurement can be
selected.
Please see the section “Selection of a data base (Library)” in the COMMON
Features section for a description of the “LIBRARIES” function.
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14.3 Taking measurements
After having entered all the desired ID´s and names as described in the section
“Entering sample ID and operator name”, and selected a data base as described in
the section “Selection of a data base”, insert the sampling tube on the right-hand
side of the analyzer into the sample and start the measurement by pressing either
the RUN button directly on the display or the “RUN” hard key on the front panel
(directly below the displayed RUN button).
ATTENTION: Before starting a measurement, please make sure that the waste
container is not yet completely full to avoid spills!
If you want to flush the system with air prior to starting the measurement, press the
EMPTY button before starting the measurement with RUN (again either directly on
the touch screen or with the hard key below).
A measurement can be stopped at any time by pressing the STOP button directly on
the display or the “STOP” hard key on the front panel (directly below the displayed
STOP button).
After the RUN button has been pressed, the display changes to show the
measurement sequence.
First, the sample is automatically drawn into the analyzer. If this procedure is
finished, the instrument requests you to confirm that the sampling tube has been
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taken out of the sample container.
Simultaneously with the filling process, the IR source is switched on, and then it
takes few seconds for the IR source and the IR detector to stabilize.
After that, the data scan is initiated during which the actual spectrometric
measurement is taken.
Finally, the sample is removed from the system and discharged into the waste
container, and the system is flushed with air.
Concurrent with the removal of the sample, the spectrum and the results are
calculated. These calculations take only about 10 seconds.
When the measurement is finished, the results are displayed. At the same time the
results are also saved in the result memory (see the section ”Result memory”).
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147
148
Use the grey scroll bar on the right of the result screen to scroll down or up the entire
result list.
If the result list is so short that it fits on one page, no scroll bar is shown:
The order of displayed results and the format of the result list can be adjusted as
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described in the section “Setting the format of the result list”.
A comment can be added which will then be stored with these results and which will
also be shown on later printouts. Touch the white box in the line COMMENT and
enter the comment with the pop-up keyboard:
To print the result on a connected printer, press the “Print” button on the lower left of
the display.
To add the sample to a library, press the button “Add”. The editor for entering known
values of different parameters will open:
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Please refer to the Section “Adding a sample to the data base” for a description of
this editor.
If the RUN hard key is pressed in the result list, the next measurement is started with
the same sample ID and operator name as was used for the previous sample.
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Press OK to return to the measuring screen. The density and temperatures of
density meter and sample cell from the last measurement are displayed:
As discussed in the section “Selection of a data base”, the ERASPEC needs a library
or data base that contains spectra and known values for calculated properties like
cetane numbers, distillation properties and other parameters.
If an unknown sample is analyzed, the ERASPEC uses two different methods called
Cluster Analysis (CA) and Multilinear regression (MLR).
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sample was found during the first iteration.
If no sample is found using the initial very low limit, then the limit is doubled, and the
calculation is repeated. If at least one sample is found in the data base within that
limit during this second iteration, then the results are determined as described
above, and “CA2” is shown.
A third and fourth iteration are performed with still increased limits, and “CA3” or
“CA4” are shown if one or more data base samples were found after the respective
iteration.
If even then no sample was found in the data base, then the cluster analysis
procedure is stopped, and MLR is applied. Please refer to the next section for a
description of the MLR method.
When cluster analysis was used, ERASPEC can display also the samples that were
found in the library. In the result list
Click on any grey box with the white number on the left side in a line of a property
that was calculated by CA:
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The display shows a matrix indicating the samples that were found, in which libraries
these samples are, and for which parameters the respective samples were used.
If the names are not sufficient to identify the samples in the libraries, it is also
possible to additionally display the date and time of measurement: Click on the large
grey field Library in the header:
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Now date and time are displayed together with the sample name, so each library
sample can be unambiguously identified.
Press OK to return to the result list.
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course, for cluster analysis to work, a data base with many samples that represent
the typical unknown samples is necessary.
MLR always works. The accuracy of results obtained in this way is usually lower han
for cluster analysis, but if the unknown is not too different from samples represented
in the data base, the results are usually still good.
A statistical measure how well an unknown sample is represented in the data base is
the Mahalanobis distance, or short Maha distance. This distance is calculated and
also displayed in the result menu as Maha. Distance. The smaller the Mahalanobis
distance, the better the unknown sample is represented in the data base.
It may also happen that the unknown sample is not well represented in the data
base, i.e. all data base samples are very different from the unknown sample. In this
case, the unknown sample is a so-called outlier (because it lies outside of the data
base samples). The Mahalanobis distance can also be used to set a criterion to
detect such outliers.
If the data base contains N samples, then a limit D2Lim can calculated by the general
formula
If D2 is smaller D2Lim , then the unknown sample is acceptably well represented in the
libraries used for the measurement.
If D2 is bigger than this limit, then the unknown sample has to be considered an
outlier, and the results for the properties of such outliers will have, on average, a
lower accuracy.
Because the limit D2Lim is dependent on the number of spectral areas and the
number of samples in the library, it is not possible to give a value for the Maha.
Distance D2 for which the sample is accepted. However, it is possible to define a
normalized Maha. Distance in the following way:
D2Norm = D2 / D2Lim
If outliers are found, the best strategy is to add them to the data base if the
properties or at least one property are known (see the section “Adding a sample to a
data base” for a description of how to add samples to the data base).
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14.5 FAME, FAEE and vegetable oil
The ERASPEC Diesel Analyzer determines the concentration of fatty acid methyl
esters (FAME), or Biodiesel, in the Diesel fuel. It uses the absorption peak at 1745
cm-1 to determine the FAME concentration in the lower range, from 0 to roughly 10
Vol%, and the absorption peak around 1180 cm-1 for higher concentrations up to
about 40% FAME.
ERASPEC can also discriminate between FAEE (fatty acid ethyl esters) and FAME
and displays the respective concentrations.
If the Diesel sample does not contain FAME or FAEE but vegetable oil instead, the
peak at 1745 cm-1 is still present in the spectrum, leading to a wrong FAME or FAEE
reading if no further analysis of the spectrum is performed.
In order to avoid such wrong results, ERASPEC examines additional regions of the
spectrum where there is a clear difference between esters and vegetable oils so that
the instrument can automatically determine if the Diesel sample contains FAME,
FAEE or vegetable oil or any mixture of these three substances.
If the ERASPEC analyzer finds that the sample contains vegetable oil instead of or in
addition to esters, a warning will be displayed in the header of the list of results in the
line FAME, similar to the warnings described in the Section “Warnings in the list of
results”. The line FAME will be marked purple, and the line OIL in the result list
(meaning vegetable oil) will be marked bright red:
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14.6 FAME (Biodiesel) Calibration
The ERASPEC Diesel Analyzer determines the concentration of fatty acid methyl
esters (FAME), or Biodiesel, in the Diesel fuel. Two different methods are offered as
standard, one developed by ERALYTICS and one according to a proposed ASTM
method that is currently under consideration at the responsible ASTM committee.
Both methods use the absorption peak at 1745 cm -1 to determine the FAME
concentration in the lower range, from 0 to roughly 10 Vol%, and the absorption peak
around 1180 cm-1 for higher concentrations up to about 40% FAME.
It is recommended to use the ERALYTICS method because of better linearity and
accuracy over the entire range of FAME concentrations.
The ERASPEC Diesel analyzer is factory calibrated for both the ERALYTICS and
ASTM method with FAME made with Canola oil (Rape seed oil).
It is known though that FAMEs from different vegetable oils (e.g. Soy bean,
Jatropha, Canola, …) have a slightly different infrared absorption. Therefore it may
be necessary to check, change or redo the factory FAME calibration.
This can easily be done using the FAME calibration menu.
In the measurement menu
Touch the button “FAME Cal” to enter the FAME calibration menu:
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14.6.1 Adding a FAME specific calibration
It is possible to define additional calibrations on the ERASPEC, each one having its
own set of calibration samples and calibration constants. This may be used when
FAME derived from different oils are routinely found in the Diesel fuels.
In the first line “Substance”, touch the white field. The keyboard pops up, and you
can enter a name for the calibration to be done:
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In the box D=, the density @ 25°C of the specific FAME can be defined, in g/cm 3, if
known. If not, the default value of 0.875 g/cm3 can be used, as this value will be
close to the actual FAME density.
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14.6.2 Measuring FAME calibration samples
In order to perform a FAME calibration, at least three samples with known FAME
concentrations are necessary for each of the calibration ranges (low range 0 to ≈
10%, high range ≈ 5 to ≈ 40 %). The ERASPEC automatically selects the range in
which a calibration sample falls. Since the ranges overlap, it is possible that a
sample will be added to both ranges.
Enter the known calibration of the 1st sample in the bottom line “Next Cal:
Concentration”:
The calibration is internally always done in Vol%. However, if calibration samples are
used that were prepared gravimetrically, it is possible to enter the known
concentration also in Mass% (Weight%). Touch the box Vol% and select the
appropriate unit from the drop down list:
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Then insert the filling tube into the calibration sample and press RUN. The normal
automatic measurement routine will be performed, the sample spectrum will be
analyzed, and the calibration values will be added to the list of calibration samples:
If a sample falls only in the low concentration range, then a value will be shown only
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in the Lo column, if it falls only in the high concentration range, a value will be shown
only in the Hi column. If it falls in the both ranges, then values will be shown both in
the Lo and Hi columns, as in the example above.
Measure all available calibration samples, always entering the known FAME
concentration before the measurement is started with RUN.
In order to calculate new calibration constants, at least three different samples need
to be added for at least one of the ranges Lo and Hi.
Then touch the box in the column Vol% in the line of the measurement for which the
concentration shall be corrected. A keyboard will appear. Enter the correct FAME
concentration:
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calculated:
Touch “Calc”. The new calibration values for both the ASTM and the ERALYTICS
method will be calculated and displayed in the four boxes below the sample list for
the ranges where enough samples are available:
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The calibration is based on multi-linear regression calculation.
The two boxes to the left show the offset and the slope of the linear calibration for
the low concentration range, the two boxes to the right show the offset and the slope
for the high concentration range
A green bar between the boxes for a range indicates that the constants have been
recalculated, a red bar indicates that the original values were not changed because
too few calibration samples were available for this range.
After the calculation of the new calibration constants, it is possible to switch back to
the original values by touching the button “Old”. Then the old values are displayed,
and you may continue to add calibration samples.
If the button “Cancel” is touched, the instrument returns to the Measure menu
without storing the new values for the calibration constant.
To store the new values, touch “End”. The instrument will store the new FAME
calibration constants and will return to the Measure menu.
In order to use the Eralytics method, make sure that the check box “use ASTM” in
the FAME Cal menu is not marked. If it is, touch the check box to unmark it:
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Then the ERALYTICS method will be used to determine the FAME concentration
when a diesel sample is analyzed.
In order to make measurements according to the proposed ASTM method, touch the
check box “use ASTM”:
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The calibration values in the Lo and Hi columns as well as the values of the
calibration constants will change to the ASTM values.
Leave the FAME Cal menu with “End” to save this setting and to use the ASTM
method for the FAME determination for future measurements.
That means that from time to time the ERASPEC starts a reference measurement
automatically, not only directly after switching on the instrument, but also during
normal operation.
If this happens, the display shows the measurement sequence described in “Turning
on the analyzer”.
Please wait until the reference determination is finished (it will take only about 60
seconds) before you perform further measurements of samples.
The date and time when the currently used reference spectrum was measured is
always displayed in the measurement menu below the button “REFERENCE”, in the
format YYMMDDhhmm:
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In the example above, the currently used reference was measured on September 18,
2014, at 15:57 (3:57 pm).
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This function can also be used to rinse the system with a solvent. Put the sampling
tube into the solvent container and press EMPTY. The ERASPEC draws in solvent
and pumps it through the entire system.
Since the solvent stays in the system after that, it is necessary to flush the system
with air afterwards.
To do that, remove the sampling tube from the solvent container and press EMPTY
again.
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However, if the FAME content of the previous sample was higher than 10%, please
perform an additional rinsing step in the following way:
Insert the filling tube in the sample to be analyzed. In the Measure menu, press
EMPTY. The ERASPEC will draw in sample. Please wait until the pump is switched
off, then press RUN to start the measurement.
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In the box Repeat, select the number N of measurements that shall be performed
and the time x (in seconds) between successive measurements.
x is the number of seconds between the end of test y and the start of next test. x
must be bigger than 10 (if x <10 is selected, then the instrument will wait 10 seconds
before starting the next measurement).
After the last measurement has been finished, the results of all measurements can
be viewed in the Result menu (see next Section).
ERASPEC usually takes spectral data during one single scan and calculates the
spectrum and all results based on this one scan.
However, in order to improve the Signal-to-Noise-ratio (SNR) of the spectrum and
thus to improve the repeatability, it is possible to perform more than one scan for a
measurement. The scans will be averaged, thus decreasing the noise in the data.
Ideally, by averaging N spectra, the noise will decrease by a factor of √N (square
root of N).
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Each scan takes about 18 seconds, so each additional scan increases the time of
the measurement by 18 seconds.
To change the number of scans per measurement, press the OPTIONS button in the
Measure menu:
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In the box Average, set the number N of scans that shall be averaged for one
measurement.
For all future measurements in the active method, the entered number of scans will
be performed and averaged.
If more than one method can be performed with the ERASPEC, the number of scans
has to be set for each method separately.
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15. Result menu
The descriptions in 7.1 through 7.10 are for the method “Diesel” (see the section
“Selection of a method”). The description of the EN14078 results menu can be found
in the section “Result menu for the optional method EN14078”.
The results of all measurements are stored in the ERASPEC and can be viewed,
printed and saved to a memory stick any time in the Result menu.
Enter the Result menu by touching “Result” in the top line of the display:
The most recent result is always the first one on the list, and the first page that is
displayed shows the 15 newest results.
To view older results, use the button to browse down line by line, or the button
to move down by one entire page.
Holding the hard key in the middle that is the RUN key in the measurement menu
and touching the button while the hard key is pressed will jump down 100
results.
Similarly, to move up to newer results, the button moves the result list up by one
result, and use the button to move up one entire page. Pressing the middle
hard key and the button simultaneously will jump up 100 results.
With the button you can return to the first page (the newest 15 results), no
matter which page is currently displayed.
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When the middle hard key and the button are pressed simultaneously you will
go to the last page (the oldest 15 results).
If more columns are shown than can be displayed, then the and buttons
can be used to move left and right. When the button is pressed, the display
moves one column to the left. Similarly, the button moves the display one
column to the right.
If the middle hard key is pressed and at simultaneously the button is touched,
the display will move so that the last column will be shown on the right side of the
display (i.e. it will move to the end).
If the middle hard key is pressed and at simultaneously the button is touched,
the display will move so that the first column will be shown on the left side of the
display (i.e. it will move to the front end).
The result menu table shows the measurements performed with the instrument. For
a quick overview and comparison of the most important parameters the displayed
columns can be customized. Each result corresponds to a line in this menu, and
parameters can be added to or deleted from this line using the “Column” function.
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In the table on the left hand side named “available” (available table) all possible
parameters which can be shown in the result menu table are listed. In the table on
the right hand side named “selected” (selected table) all parameters are shown
which will be displayed in the result menu table.
To display parameters of interest in the result menu table select the desired
parameter in the available table and press “>>” to copy into the selected table.
Each parameter can be renamed in the Title text box, and the grid width can be set
in the Width text box. In the variation window different options are available for the
displayed parameter.
With the up and down buttons, the order of the parameters can be changed. Mark
the parameter you want to move by touching it, it will be marked green. Move it to
the desired position with the up and down button.
In the above shown example the date can be shown as Date, Time or Date and
Time.
If you want to display date and time in separate columns, add Date twice to the list
“selected” and check Date for one and Time for the other.
If DateTime is selected, date and time of the measurement will be shown in the
same column:
The single components (FAME, Oil) and parameters Aromatics and PNA can be
displayed in Vol% and/or Mass% as shown in the picture below:
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If you want to show the concentration of some component in Vol% as well as in
Mass%, add this component twice to the list “selected” and check Vol% for one and
Mass% for the other.
Properties like Cetane number, IBP, etc. can show the value, unit (e.g., C or F for
distillation temperatures) or correlation type (MLR, CA). Again, if you want to show
the value and the unit and/or the correlation type, please add the respective property
twice or three times and check the different boxes.
The parameters named Pxxxx, where the xxxx are numbers, are the amplitudes of
certain absorption peaks used for the calculation of the properties and are usually
not of interest. They are displayed only at User level 6.
Press OK to store the new parameter order for the result table.
By pressing Cancel, you will return to the result menu without storing any changes.
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15.1.1 Parameters Libs, File, and Warnings
If the parameter Libs is selected in the Column menu, then the libraries that were
used for the measurement are shown in the Result menu. With the name, the
number of samples that were stored in the respective libraries at the time of the
measurement is shown in parentheses:
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If the parameter File is selected in the Column menu, then the name of the file where
the interferogram and other raw data are stored on the ERASPEC is shown:
If the parameter Warnings is selected in the Column menu, then the letter code of
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the warnings that appeared for the respective measurements are shown in the
warnings column:
The meaning of each letter code is described in the Section “Errors and warnings”.
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In order to change the calibration constants, touch the parameter Benzene and
select the submenu Adv in the upper display:
The left number in the line Cal1 is the quadratic, the right number the linear
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coefficient. If the concentration needs to be adjusted, please use Gain and/or Offset
in the menu submenu Cal.
To view a result stored in the memory, touch the grey box with the number on the
left-hand side of the display in the line of the result you want to see:
Use the bar on the right-hand side to scroll down to view the complete result list.
Press OK to return to the result display.
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Use the grey scroll bar on the right of the right-hand box labeled “shown in result
screen” to scroll down or up the list of substances and properties.
Touch the name of the substance or property for which a change shall be made:
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The following functions and operations allow you to set the format and order of the
displayed results according to your needs and preferences:
The meanings of the parameters displayed additionally for the calculated properties
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are described in more detail in the section “Changing the model for MLR”.
In the Menu Result – Edit:Result, select the respective name in the right-hand box.
In the upper box, select the submenu Cal:
Enter the correction factor in the text box right of “gain”, and the offset vale in the box
right of “Offset”. Any future results for this substance or property will be corrected by
the gain and offset according to the above equation.
The default values are 1 for gain and 0 for the Offset.
If you do not want to use gain and offset at all for a parameter, it can be switched off
by unmarking the small box next to “use”. Switching gain and offset off is the same
as setting gain=1 and offset=0.
Usually, a calibration is valid over the entire range of a parameter. In rare cases, it
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can be desirable to have two different calibrations. It is possible to divide the
calibration range in 2 parts and to define a gain and offset separately for each part.
To do so, check the box next to the small box “used” in the second line of the upper
display. The fields in the second line turn white then to indicate that values can be
entered there:
The first box in the second line is the upper limit for the first calibration, and at the
same time the lower limit for the second calibration.
If the measured value for the selected parameter is below that value, the entered
gain and offset values of the first line will be used to correct the result, if it is above
that value, the entered gain and offset values of the second line will be used to
correct the result.
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Enter the desired lower limit into white box in the line “Warning if >”.
Enter the desired upper limit into white box in the line “Warning if <”.
If both upper and lower limit are entered, accepted range is thus defined.
If a measured parameter falls outside the limit, then an L in the warning field in the
header of the result list indicates that at least one parameter falls outside a limit. In
addition, the complete line in the result list will be marked red for each parameter
that falls outside the defined limits:
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15.4 Printing results
Select the results to be printed by the line number and then press the Print button.
The selected results are printed (for printer selection and configuration see “System
Menu”).
15.5 Saving results and raw data on a memory stick (flash drive)
To save results and raw data, i.e. the interferograms of all measurements and
references, connect a memory stick to any of the USB ports and wait a few seconds.
The memory stick is automatically mounted.
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If the message “No memstick” is shown on the bottom, please wait a few seconds
until the USB memory stick is mounted. Then this message disappears.
In extremely rare cases it may happen that the memory stick will not be mounted,
and then the “No memstick“ message will be shown all the time even though a
memory stick is connected. If that happens please switch the ERASPEC off and then
on again. Then the memory stick will be correctly mounted.
To store data, the directory on the memory stick in which data shall be stored has to
be defined.
The default directory is used if the box “default folder” is marked. This directory is
then shown in the line above and has the format
\results\eraspec\”Serial Number”\diesel\
You can find the serial number of your instrument on the accompanying test sheet,
on the back of the instrument, or in the System menu (see the section “Instrument-
specific information”). It has the format ESxxxxxxx, where the x are numbers.
You can also use any other directory. Unmark the “default folder” box. Then the line
above becomes white, and it is now possible to enter the name of the desired
directory on the USB memory stick:
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If the directory in which the data shall be stored does not yet exist on the USB
memory stick, it will be created before data are stored.
To save the result.txt file, press the button “Copy result*.txt” in the upper left corner
of the display, and to store the raw data, press the button “Copy IFG”.
The file “result.txt” contains all results in csv (Comma Separated Variables) format.
One measurement is one line. This file can be read by Excel or other spreadsheet
programs.
If there are older versions of result files, they also will be stored on the memory stick
in the same directory as the current “result.txt” file.
The raw data will be saved to the two subdirectories …\ifg\ (for the sample spectra)
and …\rifg\ (for the reference spectra) which will be created in the defined directory.
While the data are transferred to the memory stick, the names of the files written on
the memory stick are shown on the bottom of the display.
When the data transfer is completed, press the button “Unmount” on the lower left
corner of the display, then the memory stick can safely be pulled out of the USB port.
The names of the raw data files consist of date and time of the measurement (in
format YYMMDDhhmm) and the sample ID with the extension .IFG.
The names of reference data files are consists only of date and time of the
measurement (in format YYMMDDhhmm) with the extension .RIFG.
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The transfer of raw data to the memory stick may take some time if many (several
hundred or more) measurements were taken with the ERASPEC. It is not necessary
to store all results every time. To have the possibility to select which raw data are
stored, the following options can be used by marking the respective small circle in
the box “IFG copy” in the upper right corner of the display:
all: All data will be transferred. If older data exist on the memory stick, the old data
will not be overwritten, but this will be checked for each result. If the option “Stop on
first match” is marked, however, all new data are stored on the memory stick until
ERASPEC finds a measurement that already exists on the memory stick, then the
transfer is stopped.
newest x: x can be entered in the rectangular box. Only the latest x measurements
will be stored on the memory stick if this option is selected
selected: only the data for a measurement or several measurements than are
selected in the Result menu are stored on the memory stick.
One result can be selected in the Result menu by touching its name. It will turn
green:
It is also possible to select several results by touching the latest or oldest result and,
keeping the finger or stylus pressed on the display, moving down to the oldest or up
to the newest result that shall be stored:
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To save all the results and raw data, i.e. the interferograms of all measurements and
references, connect a memory stick to any of the USB ports and wait a few seconds.
The memory stick is automatically mounted.
The save button becomes active (the letters turn white), and the path on the memory
stick to which the results are stored is shown on the right side of the save button.
Press the save button. All the results from the data memory are stored on the
memory stick.
While the data are transferred to the memory stick, the display is inactivated and
shows “wait”.
When the data transfer is completed, the save button is deactivated, the memory
stick is unmounted, and the message “done, memstick unmounted” is shown.
The memory stick can now safely be pulled out of the USB port.
The results are stored on the memory stick in the directory \results\eraspec\”Serial
Number”\diesel\ in the file “result.txt”. You can find the serial number of your
instrument on the accompanying test sheet, on the back of the instrument, or in the
System menu (see the section “Instrument-specific information”). It has the format
ESxxxxxxx, where the x are numbers.
The file “result.txt” contains all results in csv (Comma Separated Variables) format.
One measurement is one line. This file can be read by Excel or other spreadsheet
programs.
If there are older versions of result files, they also will be stored on the memory stick
in the same directory as the current “result.txt” file.
The interferograms (raw data) of the measurements of samples will be stored in the
same directory in the subdirectory \ifg\.
The interferograms (raw data) of the reference spectra will be stored in the same
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directory in the subdirectory \rifg\.
The names of the raw data files consist of date and time of the measurement (in
format YYMMDDhhmm) and the sample ID with the extension .IFG.
The names of reference data files are consists only of date and time of the
measurement (in format YYMMDDhhmm) with the extension .RIFG.
In extremely rare cases it may happen that the memory stick will not be mounted,
and then the “Save to” button will not become active when a memory stick is
connected. If that happens please switch the ERASPEC off and then on again. Then
the memory stick will be correctly mounted.
If a new “result.txt” file has been created in software versions 139 or higher, as
described in the section “Creating a new “result.txt” file”, then the names of the
columns and their meanings in this new file are as follows:
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FBP: The calculated ASTM D86 Final Boiling Point FBP
Maha: The Mahalanobis distance calculated from the sample and the data
base
FREE01-
FREE10 The values for the up to 10 freely selected parameters FREE01 to
FREE10
If a free parameter was renamed, then the name under which is displayed appears
also in the header of the result.txt file.
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The box on the left side “available” shows the parameters that are available and
whose values can be stored in the “result.txt” file.
The box on the right side “selected” shows the parameters that have been selected
and that will be stored in the “result.txt” file.
To add a parameter to the “selected” box, touch its name in the “available” box and
move it to the “selected” box with the button >> (the name will remain in the
“available” box because parameters can be used in the “selected” box several times,
as explained below).
To remove a parameter from the “selected” box, touch its name in the “selected” box
and press the button “del”. It will only be deleted from the “selected” box, not in the
“available” box so that it can be added again any time later.
In the “selected” box, the full name with the selected option (unit, warning, etc.) will
be shown.
To get more information about a selected parameter, touch its name in the “selected”
box. It will be marked green, and in the upper half of the display the following
information is shown:
Title: This is the title of the respective column in the “result.txt” file for the
selected parameter. This is a specific, short name that cannot be
changed.
Variation box: The options that are available for the selected parameters are
shown. The checkboxes indicate which option has been
selected.
If a parameter shall be stored in the “result.txt” file more than once (e.g. if a
concentration shall be stored in Volume% and Mass%), then this parameter can be
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added several times, and the respective options can be selected in the variation box.
The options for different parameters are:
II) For calculated parameters (like Cetane Number and Index, distillation):
Value Unit Correlation Type (Corr.Type) Warnings
To save the new format of the “result.txt” file, press OK. A beep will sound to indicate
that a new “result.txt” file has been created. The old result.txt file will be renamed to
resultyymmddhhmm.txt, where yymmddhhmm is the current date and time.
From the next measurement on, the results will be stored in the new “result.txt” file in
the selected format.
If a memory stick is connected to one of the USB connectors on the rear panel that
has a subdirectory “spec” (small letters!) in the directory \results\eraspec\, then the
absorbance spectrum will be saved on the memory stick after each measurement.
ATTENTION: The ERASPEC operating system may take up to 1 minute after the
measurement is finished before the spectrum is written to the memory stick. Please
wait for one minute after the measurement before you remove the memory stick from
the ERASPEC. Only then it is ensured that the spectrum is correctly stored on the
memory stick!
The name of the absorbance spectrum consists of date and time of the
measurement (in format YYMMDDhhmm) and the sample ID with the extension .spc.
The file contains a header, and then the absorbance values are written in one row to
this file. The header has 5 lines, and 5900 absorbance values are written in ASCII
format. Excel or any graphics program can be used to visualize the spectrum.
The spectrum file does not contain wave numbers. The first data point corresponds
to a wave number of 631 cm-1, the last data point to 4015 cm-1, and the increment
between successive absorbance values is 2349 / 4095 cm -1 = 0.5736 cm-1.
If the memory stick does not have the subdirectory “spec”, no spectra will be stored!
If you have a sample with known properties such as Cetane number, Cetane Index,
Cetane Improver. Total aromatics, PNA, and/or distillation, it is easily possible to add
this sample to the data base.
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It is strongly recommended to add such samples that are typical for the Diesel fuels
that are tested. Adding such representative samples is necessary to improve the
accuracy of the results for the calculated properties.
Perform a normal measurement with the known sample, as described in the section
“Taking measurements”. After the measurement is finished, you can either measure
additional samples with known properties, or go directly to the results menu.
Select the sample you want to add to the library by touching the line where this
sample is displayed. The selected sample line is then marked in green:
Press the button “Add to Lib”. The display shows then a list of all possible properties
that are calculated with the help of the data base:
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In the first line “LIBRARY”, you can select the data base to which the selected
sample shall be added. Touch the grey box with the arrow right of the text box that
displays the library name, and the list of all libraries will drop down:
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To enter the known value of a property, touch the box Value in the line of the
parameter whose value shall be entered. The keyboard will pop up, and now the
known value for this property can be entered.
In this way, enter all known values for each property.
If a value for a property is not known, leave the respective Value box blank. A blank
box indicates to the instrument that the respective value is not known for this sample,
and it then uses this sample only for calculations of these properties for which values
have been entered.
After all known properties have been entered, press OK to save this new sample in
the selected data base and to return to the result menu.
If “Cancel” is pressed, the process is cancelled, no new sample will be stored in the
data base, and you will return to the result menu.
A data base can be edited on the instrument itself, as described in the section “The
library editor”.
The data base can also be exported to a memory stick, as described in the section
“Export of libraries to a memory stick (flash drive)”.
The library file can then be opened and edited using Excel.
Any new or altered library then can be imported from a memory stick, as described in
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the section “Import of libraries from a memory stick (flash drive)”.
The function described here is accessible only for user levels 5 and higher!
As explained in the section “Results for calculated properties: CA and MLR”, the
ERASPEC performs the MLR calculation if Cluster Analysis cannot be applied. For
this calculation, several spectra areas that highly correlate with the calculated
properties are selected.
A specific selection of spectral areas for MLR is called a “model”.
This selection or model may be changed if components are present in the Diesel
samples that are not included in the standard MLR model or vice versa.
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In the right text white box, select the parameter for which the model shall be changed
by touching the name of this parameter (in the example below, Cetane Index is
selected):
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The correlation method can be selected by checking the CLU and/or MLR box. CLU
is Cluster Analysis (CA). Usually both MLR and CLU are selected.
Only for Cetane Improver, only MLR is selected, and CLU is deactivated.
In the line MLR, the number displayed in the white text box next to “PeakVec”
indicates the model that is used for the MLR calculation. 6 standard models are
available for different properties.
Please refer to the section “Standard MLR models” below for a detailed description
of the available standard models. If the model for the selected parameter shall be
changed to a different standard model, please enter the number of the desired
standard model in the white text box next to “PeakVec” in the line MLR.
For each calculated parameter, the MLR model can be changed in this way, as
described in more detail in the Section ”Changing and creating an MLR model”
below.
Press the “Ok” button to save the changes and to return to the Result menu.
If you press “Cancel”, the changes made will not be saved, and you will return to the
Result menu.
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15.9.2 Standard MLR models
The following table gives the standard models available in the ERASPEC:
Standard models are defined for types of Diesel fuels for which a factory data base is
available.
It may be desirable to create or change a new model.
In the Result menu, press the button “Result” and select a calculated property. Then
press the green “..“ button next to PeakVec in the line MLR:
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In the white numeric text box below Nr, select either the Nr of the existing standard
model that shall be changed (see the section “Standard MLR models” above for a
table of available standard models), or a number between 7 and 20 to create a new
model.
In the white box “used for MLR”, the peak areas that are currently defined for the
selected model are displayed.
In the white box “available”, all additionally available peak areas are shown.
To add a peak area to the model, touch the respective name in the box “available”. It
will be marked green. Then move this selected peak area to the box “used for MLR”
by touching the button “>>”.
Repeat this for all peaks that shall be added to the selected model.
To remove a peak area from the model, touch the respective name in the box “used
for MLR”. It will be marked green. Then move this selected peak area to the box
“available” by touching the button “<<”.
Repeat this for all peaks that shall be removed from the selected model.
In order to actually use a new model for a calculated property, the correct number of
the model has to be entered.
Select the name of the calculated property from the list in the box “shown in result
screen”:
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Then, in the line MLR, change the number in the white box next to PeakVec to the
number of the desired model.
Repeat this procedure for all calculated properties for which a new model shall be
used.
Press “Ok” to save these changes or “Cancel” to leave this menu without saving.
In the line CLU, the number displayed in the white text box next to “Iterations”
indicates the number of iterations that will be made, with increasing acceptance
limits, to find a matching spectrum from the library as described in the section
“Cluster Analysis: CA1, CA2, CA3, and CA4”.
Usually 4 such iterations are made. If more or fewer iterations shall be performed,
then please set the number in the “Iterations” box to the number of desired iterations:
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The number of iterations has to be set separately for each parameter that is
calculated by CA.
In order to find a possible match, all peaks that are stored in the library are used to
compare to the unknown spectrum. Only if all peaks are sufficiently close, then a
spectrum is accepted for Cluster Analysis.
If, for some reason, not all peaks shall be used for Cluster Analysis, it is possible to
exclude one or several peaks.
In the line CLU, the number displayed in the white text box next to “PeakVec” is
usually 0, meaning that all peaks are used for the comparison.
To exclude peaks, set this number to a different value:
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Then touch the green box “..” next to PeakVec in the line CLU. The list of peaks that
are used for CA is shown:
Move the peaks that shall not be used from the right box to the left box labeled
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“available”:
Press OK to store this new selection. The peaks moved over to the left box will not
be used to determine if a spectrum stored in the library is sufficiently close to the
unknown spectrum.
The PeakVec for CA has to be set separately for each parameter that is calculated
by CA!
For the calculated properties Cetane Number, T90, and T95, a factory data base is
available. Additionally, Cetane Index, Cetane Improver concentration, total Aromatics
concentration, PNA concentration, IBP, T10, T50, and FBP are standard parameters
that will be found in the result list.
It may be desirable to calculate other properties from the infrared spectrum that are
not included in the factory data base and are no standard parameters.
An example is the distillation property “Evaporated at xxx”, where xxx defines a
certain temperature. This temperature is defined in °Fahrenheit in some countries
and in °Celsius in others, and the specifications also vary from country to country.
Therefore it is not possible to define standard parameters for the property
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“Evaporated at xxx”.
The ERASPEC has 10 additional “free” parameters that can be renamed and used in
the data base to make it possible to calculate additional properties.
Of course, at least 40 samples with known values for these new properties have to
be added to the data base, as described in the section “Adding a sample to the data
base”, before results for these additional properties will be calculated.
In order to add such a new parameter, go to the Result menu and press “Result”:
The additional parameters are shown in the box “available” and are labeled
“FREE01” through “FREE10”.
Select the “free” parameter by touching it, it will be marked green. Then move it to
the box “shown in result screen” using the “>>” button. It will appear at the end of the
list.
Select this parameter again by touching it.
In the upper box “substance settings”, its name can be changed in the white text box
“shown as”.
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If it is a concentration, check to box “vol/mass” and select the options how it shall be
displayed in the result list.
If it is any other parameter, enter its unit in the text box “unit” (e.g. for E650 or E350,
the unit could be V% or Vol%).
The number of decimal digits is one of the newly defined free parameter is 1.
However, if a parameter requires more or less decimal digits, the number of digits
can be defines as follows:
In the box unit, enter a minus ( - ), then the number of desired number of decimal
digits, and then the name of the unit, as shown in the example below (for the
viscosity unit mPas and 4 digits after the comma):
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If -0unit is entered, then the respective free parameter is displayed as integer.
Please go to the menu submenu Adv. The check boxes MLR and CLU should be
marked.
The MLR model that shall be used for the calculation of this newly defined parameter
has to be selected by entering the number of the desired model in the white text box
near “PeakVec”, as described in the section “Selecting a different standard MLR
model”.
If no standard model is applicable, create a new appropriate model, as described in
the section “Changing and creating a model”, and select the number of this new
model.
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16. Method EN14078 for FAME
ERASPEC offers in addition to the normal Diesel analysis an optional method to
determine the FAME (Biodiesel) concentration, the European Norm EN14078.
The older version EN14078:2003 required to dilute the diesel with cyclohexane in a
ratio 1:10 or 1:20, depending on the (expected) FAME concentration in the sample.
The spectrum of this diluted sample is then measured.
As reference spectrum, a spectrum of pure cyclohexane is used.
In 2010, this old version was superseded by EN14078:2010. This standard defines 2
ranges:
- Range A for FAME concentration from approx. 0 to approx. 3 Vol%
- Range B for FAME concentration from approx. 3 to approx. 20 Vol%
Samples that fall within range A shall be measured undiluted. Samples that fall within
range B shall be diluted with a FAME free middle distillate at a dilution ratio of 1:5.
Higher concentrations can also be measured using higher dilution ratios.
For all EN14078 related measurements (reference and samples), the longer
pathlength cell installed for the normal Diesel analysis is used.
For the determination of FAME according to EN14078, please select the method
“EN14078” from the drop-down menu (please note that for the selection of a method,
the user level has to be 5 or higher, see the section “Selection of a method”):
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Before any EN14078 measurements can be taken, a reference spectrum has to be
measured.
Insert the sampling tube into the solvent container and press REFERENCE.
The instrument selects the correct absorption cell, fills solvent, and performs the
measurement. The sequence shown on the display is the same as for a regular
measurement and is described in detail in the section “Taking measurements”.
The date and time when the currently used reference spectrum was measured is
always displayed in the measurement menu below the button “REFERENCE”, in the
format YYMMDDhhmm:
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In the example above, the currently used reference was measured on January 25,
2013, at 13:23 (1:23 pm).
For example, putting 20 ml sample in a 100 ml graduated flask and filling up with
solvent to the 100 ml mark gives a 1:5 dilution ratio.
Consequently, the undiluted sample for up to 3 Vol% FAME has a dilution ratio of
1:1.
This dilution factor is of course needed to correctly calculate the FAME concentration
in the original, undiluted Diesel. Before a measurement is started, please enter the
correct dilution factor for the sample under test in the box “Dilution”, either via
keyboard or using the predefined values from the drop down list:
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EN14078 results are given in Vol%. However, it is possible to convert the Vol% to
Mass% (Weight%) if the density of the undiluted Diesel is known.
ERASPEC cannot determine the density of the undiluted sample when diluted
sample is injected. Therefore the density of the undiluted Diesel has to be
determined separately and entered into the instrument prior to starting the
measurement if the FAME concentration shall be displayed both in Vol and Mass%.
Touch the white text box “Density diesel”. Enter the Diesel density in the unit that is
selected on the ERASPEC (see the section “Set-up of date and time and units”)
using the pop-up keyboard.
For a measurement, insert the sampling tube into the container with the diluted or
undiluted Diesel sample and press “RUN”.
The instrument selects the correct absorption cell, fills sample, and performs the
measurement. The sequence shown on the display is the same as for a regular
measurement and is described in detail in the section “Taking measurements”.
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At the same time the results are also saved in the result memory (see the section
“Result menu for the optional method EN14078” below).
If RUN is pressed, the next measurement is started with the same sample ID and
operator name as was used for the previous sample.
The results for FAME determinations according to EN14078 are stored in a separate
EN14078 results menu. If method EN14078 is selected in the measurement menu
(see the section “Selection of a method”), then this results menu will automatically be
selected.
Enter the Result menu by touching “Result” in the top line of the display:
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16.3.1 The EN14078 Result menu table
The result menu table can be customized in exactly the same manner as described
in the Section “Customizing the Result menu table”. However, since EN14078 gives
as the only result the FAME concentration, only FAME has any meaning.
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Press OK to return to the result display.
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The following functions and operations allow you to set the format of the displayed
results according to your needs and preferences:
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16.3.4 Printing EN14078 results
The printing is the same as for the “Diesel method” and is described in the section
“Printing results”.
16.3.5 Saving EN14078 results and raw data on a memory stick (flash drive)
The results and raw data, i.e. the interferograms of all measurements and
references, can be stored on a connected USB memory stick as described above in
the section “Saving results and raw data on a memory stick (flash drive)” for the
diesel method.
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The box on the left side “available” shows the parameters that are available and
whose values can be stored in the “result.txt” file.
The box on the right side “selected” shows the parameters that have been selected
and that will be stored in the “result.txt” file.
To add a parameter to the “selected” box, touch its name in the “available” box and
move it to the “selected” box with the button >> (the name will remain in the
“available” box because parameters can be used in the “selected” box several times,
as explained below).
To remove a parameter from the “selected” box, touch its name in the “selected” box
and press the button “del”. It will only be deleted from the “selected” box, not in the
“available” box so that it can be added again any time later.
In the “selected” box, the full name with the selected option (unit, warning, etc.) will
be shown.
To get more information about a selected parameter, touch its name in the “selected”
box. It will be marked green, and in the upper half of the display the following
information is shown:
Title: This is the title of the respective column in the “result.txt” file for the
selected parameter. This is a specific, short name that cannot be
changed.
Variation box: The options that are available for the selected parameters are
shown. The checkboxes indicate which option has been
selected.
If a parameter shall be stored in the “result.txt” file more than once (e.g. if the
concentration shall be stored in Volume% and Mass%), then this parameter can be
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added several times, and the respective options can be selected in the variation box.
The options for the FAME concentration are:
Vol% Mass% Warnings
To save the new format of the “result.txt” file, press OK. A beep will sound to indicate
that a new “result.txt” file has been created. The old result.txt file will be renamed to
resultyymmddhhmm.txt, where yymmddhhmm is the current date and time.
From the next measurement on, the results will be stored in the new “result.txt” file in
the selected format.
If a memory stick is connected to one of the USB connectors on the rear panel that
has a subdirectory “spec” (small letters!) in the directory \results\eraspec\, then the
absorbance spectrum will be saved on the memory stick after each measurement.
The name of the absorbance spectrum consists of date and time of the
measurement (in format YYMMDDhhmm) and the sample ID with the extension .spc.
The file contains a header, and then the absorbance values are written in one row to
this file. The header has 5 lines, and 5900 absorbance values are written.
The spectrum file does not contain wavenumbers. The first data point corresponds to
a wavenumber of 631 cm-1, the last data point to 4015 cm-1, and the increment
between successive absorbance values is 0.5736 cm -1.
If the memory stick does not have the subdirectory “spec”, no spectra will be stored!
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In the submenu Cal, two parameters called offset and gain can be defined:
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The EN14078 calibration equation for FAME, for a constant pathlength cell, is
defined as:
q = (A – b) / a
ERASPEC has the values for b and a stored in the following format:
Offset = b
Cal1 = 1/a
ATTENTION: The parameters “gain” and “Cal1” have to be set to gain = 1 and
Cal1 = 1, and the parameter “Offset” has to be set to Offset = 0 when the
calibration solutions are measured on the ERASPEC!
Enter this new set of calibration constants in the respective boxes “Offset” and “Cal1”
by touching the white text box next to the respective parameter and entering the new
values with the pop-up keyboard.
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“gain” is a factor used to modify the original calibration equation, so that the equation
actually used is:
If small deviations from the expected FAME concentrations are measured, this factor
“gain” can be used to correct such deviations.
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.
17. Description
The ERASPEC Jet Fuel analyzer measures the following parameters:
Distillation points (correlation to ASTM D 86): IBP, T10, T50, T85, T90, T95, FBP
Contamination:
Polynuclear Aromatics (PNA)
FAME
Density 0.500 – 1.999 g/cm3 (direct measurement with a built-in Anton Paar density
module according to IP 559, correl. ASTM D 4052)
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17.1 Jet analyzer specifications
Standard
Parameter Range Deviation Repeatability at:
Viscosity @ 20°C 1.2 – 2.1 mPas 0.01 mPas 0.03 mPas @ 1.7 mPas
Viscosity @ -20°C 2.4 – 4.5 mPas 0.04°C 0.11 mPas @ 3.7 mPas
Density 0.5 – 1.999 gcm-3 0.0002 gcm-3 0.0006 gcm-3 0.7800 gcm-3
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18. Measurement menu
After the analyzer is powered and is ready to start measurements, the measurement
menu appears on the display:
For a normal Jet Fuel analysis, please select the method “Jet Fuel” from the drop-
down menu:
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18.2 Selection of a data base (Library)
For the calculation of the measured parameters, the ERASPEC needs a library or
data base that contains spectra and known values for these calculated parameters.
It is very important that this data base contains samples that are representative of
the samples under test. Please refer to the section “Adding a sample to the data
base” for a description of the procedure to add samples to the data base.
In some situations, it is useful to use different libraries for different sample classes
(e.g. different process streams or different Jet Fuel types). If more than one such
data bases exits, the library or libraries that will be used for a measurement can be
selected.
Please see the section “Selection of a data base (Library)” in the COMMON
Features section for a description of the “LIBRARIES” function.
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18.3 Taking measurements
After having entered all the desired ID´s and names as described in the section
“Entering sample ID and operator name”, and selected a data base as described in
the section “Selection of a data base”, insert the sampling tube on the right-hand
side of the analyzer into the sample and start the measurement by pressing either
the RUN button directly on the display or the “RUN” hard key on the front panel
(directly below the displayed RUN button).
ATTENTION: Before starting a measurement, please make sure that the waste
container is not yet completely full to avoid spills!
If you want to flush the system with air prior to starting the measurement, press the
EMPTY button before starting the measurement with RUN (again either directly on
the touch screen or with the hard key below).
A measurement can be stopped at any time by pressing the STOP button directly on
the display or the “STOP” hard key on the front panel (directly below the displayed
STOP button).
After the RUN button has been pressed, the display changes to show the
measurement sequence.
First, the sample is automatically drawn into the analyzer. If this procedure is
finished, the instrument requests you to confirm that the sampling tube has been
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taken out of the sample container.
Simultaneously with the filling process, the IR source is switched on, and then it
takes few seconds for the IR source and the IR detector to stabilize.
After that, the data scan is initiated during which the actual spectrometric
measurement is taken.
Finally, the sample is removed from the system and discharged into the waste
container, and the system is flushed with air.
Concurrent with the removal of the sample, the spectrum and the results are
calculated. These calculations take only about 10 seconds.
When the measurement is finished, the results are displayed. At the same time the
results are also saved in the result memory (see the section ”Result memory”).
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The order of displayed results and the format of the result list can be adjusted as
described in the section “Setting the format of the result list”.
A comment can be added which will then be stored with these results and which will
also be shown on later printouts. Touch the white box in the line COMMENT and
enter the comment with the pop-up keyboard:
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To print the result on a connected printer, press the “Print” button on the lower left of
the display.
To add the sample to a library, press the button “Add”. The editor for entering known
values of different parameters will open:
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Please refer to the Section “Adding a sample to the data base” for a description of
this editor.
If the RUN hard key is pressed in the result list, the next measurement is started with
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the same sample ID and operator name as was used for the previous sample.
As discussed in the section “Selection of a data base”, the ERASPEC needs a library
or data base that contains spectra and known values for calculated properties like
cetane numbers, distillation properties and other parameters.
If an unknown sample is analyzed, the ERASPEC uses two different methods called
Cluster Analysis (CA) and Multilinear regression (MLR).
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If at least one sample is found below the initial very low limit, then “CA1” is shown in
the respective line in the result list, indicating that at least one such data base
sample was found during the first iteration.
If no sample is found using the initial very low limit, then the limit is doubled, and the
calculation is repeated. If at least one sample is found in the data base within that
limit during this second iteration, then the results are determined as described
above, and “CA2” is shown.
Up to 6 iterations are performed with still increased limits, and the number next to
“CA” indicates the numbers of iterations necessary to find at least one matching
sepctrum in the library.
If even then no sample was found in the data base, then the cluster analysis
procedure is stopped, and MLR is applied. Please refer to the next section for a
description of the MLR method.
When cluster analysis was used, ERASPEC can display also the samples that were
found in the library. In the result list
Click on any grey box with the white number on the left side in a line of a property
that was calculated by CA:
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The display shows a matrix indicating the samples that were found, in which libraries
these samples are, and for which parameters the respective samples were used.
If the names are not sufficient to identify the samples in the libraries, it is also
possible to additionally display the date and time of measurement: Click on the large
grey field Library in the header:
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Now date and time are displayed together with the sample name, so each library
sample can be unambiguously identified.
Press OK to return to the result list.
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MLR always works. The accuracy of results obtained in this way is usually lower han
for cluster analysis, but if the unknown is not too different from samples represented
in the data base, the results are usually still good.
A statistical measure how well an unknown sample is represented in the data base is
the Mahalanobis distance, or short Maha distance. This distance is calculated and
also displayed in the result menu as Maha. Distance. The smaller the Mahalanobis
distance, the better the unknown sample is represented in the data base.
It may also happen that the unknown sample is not well represented in the data
base, i.e. all data base samples are very different from the unknown sample. In this
case, the unknown sample is a so-called outlier (because it lies outside of the data
base samples). The Mahalanobis distance can also be used to set a criterion to
detect such outliers.
If the data base contains N samples, then a limit D2Lim can calculated by the general
formula
If D2 is smaller D2Lim , then the unknown sample is acceptably well represented in the
libraries used for the measurement.
If D2 is bigger than this limit, then the unknown sample has to be considered an
outlier, and the results for the properties of such outliers will have, on average, a
lower accuracy.
Because the limit D2Lim is dependent on the number of spectral areas and the
number of samples in the library, it is not possible to give a value for the Maha.
Distance D2 for which the sample is accepted. However, it is possible to define a
normalized Maha. Distance in the following way:
D2Norm = D2 / D2Lim
If outliers are found, the best strategy is to add them to the data base if the
properties or at least one property are known (see the section “Adding a sample to a
data base” for a description of how to add samples to the data base).
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18.5 Reference spectrum
That means that from time to time the ERASPEC starts a reference measurement
automatically, not only directly after switching on the instrument, but also during
normal operation.
If this happens, the display shows the measurement sequence described in “Turning
on the analyzer”.
Please wait until the reference determination is finished (it will take only about 60
seconds) before you perform further measurements of samples.
The date and time when the currently used reference spectrum was measured is
always displayed in the measurement menu below the button “REFERENCE”, in the
format YYMMDDhhmm:
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In the example above, the currently used reference was measured on September 18,
2014, at 15:57 (3:57 pm).
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This function can also be used to rinse the system with a solvent. Put the sampling
tube into the solvent container and press EMPTY. The ERASPEC draws in solvent
and pumps it through the entire system.
Since the solvent stays in the system after that, it is necessary to flush the system
with air afterwards.
To do that, remove the sampling tube from the solvent container and press EMPTY
again.
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In the box Repeat, select the number N of measurements that shall be performed
and the time x (in seconds) between successive measurements.
x is the number of seconds between the end of test y and the start of next test. x
must be bigger than 10 (if x <10 is selected, then the instrument will wait 10 seconds
before starting the next measurement).
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The ERASPEC will perform N successive, independent measurements. For every
measurement, ERASPEC uses fresh sample. Please leave the inlet tube in the
sample. Remove it only after the last measurement when the analyzer displays the
message “Remove tube from sample”.
After the last measurement has been finished, the results of all measurements can
be viewed in the Result menu (see next Section).
ERASPEC usually takes spectral data during one single scan and calculates the
spectrum and all results based on this one scan.
However, in order to improve the Signal-to-Noise-ratio (SNR) of the spectrum and
thus to improve the repeatability, it is possible to perform more than one scan for a
measurement. The scans will be averaged, thus decreasing the noise in the data.
Ideally, by averaging N spectra, the noise will decrease by a factor of √N (square
root of N).
Each scan takes about 18 seconds, so each additional scan increases the time of
the measurement by 18 seconds.
To change the number of scans per measurement, press the OPTIONS button in the
Measure menu:
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In the box Average, set the number N of scans that shall be averaged for one
measurement.
For all future measurements in the active method, the entered number of scans will
be performed and averaged.
If more than one method can be performed with the ERASPEC, the number of scans
has to be set for each method separately.
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19. Result menu
The results of all measurements are stored in the ERASPEC and can be viewed,
printed and saved to a memory stick any time in the Result menu.
Enter the Result menu by touching “Result” in the top line of the display:
The most recent result is always the first one on the list, and the first page that is
displayed shows the 15 newest results.
To view older results, use the button to browse down line by line, or the button
to move down by one entire page.
Holding the hard key in the middle that is the RUN key in the measurement menu
and touching the button while the hard key is pressed will jump down 100
results.
Similarly, to move up to newer results, the button moves the result list up by one
result, and use the button to move up one entire page. Pressing the middle
hard key and the button simultaneously will jump up 100 results.
With the button you can return to the first page (the newest 15 results), no
matter which page is currently displayed.
When the middle hard key and the button are pressed simultaneously you will
go to the last page (the oldest 15 results).
If more columns are shown than can be displayed, then the and buttons
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can be used to move left and right. When the button is pressed, the display
moves one column to the left. Similarly, the button moves the display one
column to the right.
If the middle hard key is pressed and at simultaneously the button is touched,
the display will move so that the last column will be shown on the right side of the
display (i.e. it will move to the end).
If the middle hard key is pressed and at simultaneously the button is touched,
the display will move so that the first column will be shown on the left side of the
display (i.e. it will move to the front end).
The result menu table shows the measurements performed with the instrument. For
a quick overview and comparison of the most important parameters the displayed
columns can be customized. Each result corresponds to a line in this menu, and
parameters can be added to or deleted from this line using the “Column” function.
In the table on the left hand side named “available” (available table) all possible
parameters which can be shown in the result menu table are listed. In the table on
the right hand side named “selected” (selected table) all parameters are shown
which will be displayed in the result menu table.
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To display parameters of interest in the result menu table select the desired
parameter in the available table and press “>>” to copy into the selected table.
Each parameter can be renamed in the Title text box, and the grid width can be set
in the Width text box. In the variation window different options are available for the
displayed parameter.
With the up and down buttons, the order of the parameters can be changed. Mark
the parameter you want to move by touching it, it will be marked in green. Move it to
the desired position with the up and down button.
In the above shown example the date can be shown as Date, Time or Date and
Time.
If you want to display date and time in separate columns, add Date twice to the list
“selected” and check Date for one and Time for the other.
If DateTime is selected, date and time of the measurement will be shown in the
same column.
The parameters Aromatics, FAME, and PNA can be displayed in Vol% and/or
Mass% as shown in the above picture. If you want to show the concentration of
some component in Vol% as well as in Mass%, add this component twice to the list
“selected” and check Vol% for one and Mass% for the other.
Properties like Freezing Point, IBP etc. can show the value, unit (e.g., C or F for
distillation temperatures) or correlation type (MLR, CA). Again, if you want to show
the value and the unit and/or the correlation type, please add the respective property
twice or three times and check the different boxes.
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The parameters named Pxxxx, where the xxxx are numbers, are the amplitudes of
certain absorption peaks used for the calculation of the properties and are usually
not of interest. They are displayed only at User level 6.
Press OK to store the new parameter order for the result table.
By pressing Cancel, you will return to the result menu without storing any changes.
If the parameter File is selected in the Column menu, then the name of the file where
the interferogram and other raw data are stored on the ERASPEC is shown in the
Result menu:
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If the parameter Warnings is selected in the Column menu, then the letter code of
the warnings that appeared for the respective measurements are shown in the
warnings column:
The meaning of each letter code is described in the Section “Errors and warnings”.
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19.2 Viewing stored results
To view a result stored in the memory, touch the grey box with the number on the
left-hand side of the display in the line of the result you want to see:
If the list is longer that one page on the display, use the grey bar on the right-hand
side to scroll down to view the complete result list.
Press OK to return to the result display.
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Use the scroll bar on the right of the right-hand box labeled “shown in result screen”
to scroll down or up the list of substances and properties.
Touch the name of the substance or property for which a change shall be made:
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The following functions and operations allow you to set the format and order of the
displayed results according to your needs and preferences:
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Press OK to store all changes and to return to the result menu.
Press “Cancel” to cancel any changes and to return to the result menu.
In the Menu Result – Edit:Result, select the respective name in the right-hand box.
In the upper box, select the submenu Cal:
Enter the correction factor in the text box right of “gain”, and the offset vale in the box
right of “Offset”. Any future results for this substance or property will be corrected by
the gain and offset according to the above equation.
The default values are 1 for gain and 0 for the Offset.
If you do not want to use gain and offset at all for a parameter, it can be switched off
by unmarking the small box next to “use”. Switching gain and offset off is the same
as setting gain=1 and offset=0.
Usually, a calibration is valid over the entire range of a parameter. In rare cases, it
can be desirable to have two different calibrations. It is possible to divide the
calibration range in 2 parts and to define a gain and offset separately for each part.
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To do so, check the box next to the small box “used” in the second line of the upper
display. The fields in the second line turn white then to indicate that values can be
entered there:
The first box in the second line is the upper limit for the first calibration, and at the
same time the lower limit for the second calibration.
If the measured value for the selected parameter is below that value, the entered
gain and offset values of the first line will be used to correct the result, if it is above
that value, the entered gain and offset values of the second line will be used to
correct the result.
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Enter the desired lower limit into white box in the line “Warning if >”.
Enter the desired upper limit into white box in the line “Warning if <”.
If both upper and lower limit are entered, accepted range is thus defined.
If a measured parameter falls outside the limit, then an L in the warning field in the
header of the result list indicates that at least one parameter falls outside a limit. In
addition, the complete line in the result list will be marked red for each parameter
that falls outside the defined limits:
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19.4 Printing results
Select the results to be printed by the line number and then press the Print button.
The selected results are printed (for printer selection and configuration see “System
Menu”).
19.5 Saving results and raw data on a memory stick (flash drive)
To save results and raw data, i.e. the interferograms of all measurements and
references, connect a memory stick to any of the USB ports and wait a few seconds.
The memory stick is automatically mounted.
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If the message “No memstick” on the bottom, please wait a few seconds until the
USB memory stick is mounted. Then this message disappears.
In extremely rare cases it may happen that the memory stick will not be mounted,
and then the “No memstick“ message will be shown all the time even though a
memory stick is connected. If that happens please switch the ERASPEC off and then
on again. Then the memory stick will be correctly mounted.
To store data, the directory on the memory stick in which data shall be stored has to
be defined.
The default directory is used if the box “default folder” is marked. This directory is
then shown in the line above and has the format
\results\eraspec\”Serial Number”\diesel\
You can find the serial number of your instrument on the accompanying test sheet,
on the back of the instrument, or in the System menu (see the section “Instrument-
specific information”). It has the format ESxxxxxxx, where the x are numbers.
You can also use any other directory. Unmark the “default folder” box. Then the line
above becomes white, and it is now possible to enter the name of the desired
directory on the USB memory stick:
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If the directory in which the data shall be stored does not yet exist on the USB
memory stick, it will be created before data are stored.
To save the result.txt file, press the button “Copy result*.txt” in the upper left corner
of the display, and to store the raw data, press the button “Copy IFG”.
The file “result.txt” contains all results in csv (Comma Separated Variables) format.
One measurement is one line. This file can be read by Excel or other spreadsheet
programs.
If there are older versions of result files, they also will be stored on the memory stick
in the same directory as the current “result.txt” file.
The raw data will be saved to the two subdirectories …\ifg\ (for the sample spectra)
and …\rifg\ (for the reference spectra) which will be created in the defined directory.
While the data are transferred to the memory stick, the names of the files written on
the memory stick are shown on the bottom of the display.
When the data transfer is completed, press the button “Unmount” on the lower left
corner of the display, then the memory stick can safely be pulled out of the USB port.
The names of the raw data files consist of date and time of the measurement (in
format YYMMDDhhmm) and the sample ID with the extension .IFG.
The names of reference data files are consists only of date and time of the
measurement (in format YYMMDDhhmm) with the extension .RIFG.
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The transfer of raw data to the memory stick may take some time if many (several
hundred or more) measurements were taken with the ERASPEC. It is not necessary
to store all results every time. To have the possibility to select which raw data are
stored, the following options can be used by marking the respective small circle in
the box “IFG copy” in the upper right corner of the display:
all: All data will be transferred. If older data exist on the memory stick, the old data
will not be overwritten, but this will be checked for each result. If the option “Stop on
first match” is marked, however, all new data are stored on the memory stick until
ERASPEC finds a measurement that already exists on the memory stick, then the
transfer is stopped.
newest x: x can be entered in the rectangular box. Only the latest x measurements
will be stored on the memory stick if this option is selected
selected: only the data for a measurement or several measurements than are
selected in the Result menu are stored on the memory stick.
One result can be selected in the Result menu by touching its name. It will turn
green:
It is also possible to select several results by touching the latest or oldest result and,
keeping the finger or stylus pressed on the display, moving down to the oldest or up
to the newest result that shall be stored:
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To save all the results and raw data, i.e. the interferograms of all measurements and
references, connect a memory stick to any of the USB ports and wait a few seconds.
The memory stick is automatically mounted.
The save button becomes active (the letters turn white), and the path on the memory
stick to which the results are stored is shown on the right side of the save button.
Press the save button. All the results from the data memory are stored on the
memory stick.
While the data are transferred to the memory stick, the display is inactivated and
shows “wait”.
When the data transfer is completed, the save button is deactivated, the memory
stick is unmounted, and the message “done, memstick unmounted” is shown.
The memory stick can now safely be pulled out of the USB port.
The results are stored on the memory stick in the directory \results\eraspec\”Serial
Number”\diesel\ in the file “result.txt”. You can find the serial number of your
instrument on the accompanying test sheet, on the back of the instrument, or in the
System menu (see the section “Instrument-specific information”). It has the format
ESxxxxxxx, where the x are numbers.
The file “result.txt” contains all results in csv (Comma Separated Variables) format.
One measurement is one line. This file can be read by Excel or other spreadsheet
programs.
If there are older versions of result files, they also will be stored on the memory stick
in the same directory as the current “result.txt” file.
The interferograms (raw data) of the measurements of samples will be stored in the
same directory in the subdirectory \ifg\.
The interferograms (raw data) of the reference spectra will be stored in the same
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directory in the subdirectory \rifg\.
The names of the raw data files consist of date and time of the measurement (in
format YYMMDDhhmm) and the sample ID with the extension .IFG.
The names of reference data files are consists only of date and time of the
measurement (in format YYMMDDhhmm) with the extension .RIFG.
In extremely rare cases it may happen that the memory stick will not be mounted,
and then the “Save to” button will not become active when a memory stick is
connected. If that happens please switch the ERASPEC off and then on again. Then
the memory stick will be correctly mounted.
If a new “result.txt” file has been created in software versions 139 or higher, as
described in the section “Creating a new “result.txt” file”, then the names of the
columns and their meanings in this new file are as follows:
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T50: The calculated ASTM D86 T50 temperature
T85: The calculated ASTM D86 T85 temperature
T90: The calculated ASTM D86 T90 temperature
T95: The calculated ASTM D86 T95 temperature
FBP: The calculated ASTM D86 Final Boiling Point FBP
Maha: The Mahalanobis distance calculated from the sample and the data
base
FREE01-
FREE10 The values for the up to 10 freely selected parameters FREE01 to
FREE10
If a free parameter was renamed, then the name under which is displayed appears
also in the header of the result.txt file.
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The box on the left side “available” shows the parameters that are available and
whose values can be stored in the “result.txt” file.
The box on the right side “selected” shows the parameters that have been selected
and that will be stored in the “result.txt” file.
To add a parameter to the “selected” box, touch its name in the “available” box and
move it to the “selected” box with the button >> (the name will remain in the
“available” box because parameters can be used in the “selected” box several times,
as explained below).
To remove a parameter from the “selected” box, touch its name in the “selected” box
and press the button “del”. It will only be deleted from the “selected” box, not in the
“available” box so that it can be added again any time later.
In the “selected” box, the full name with the selected option (unit, warning, etc.) will
be shown.
To get more information about a selected parameter, touch its name in the “selected”
box. It will be marked green, and in the upper half of the display the following
information is shown:
Title: This is the title of the respective column in the “result.txt” file for the
selected parameter. This is a specific, short name that cannot be
changed.
Variation box: The options that are available for the selected parameters are
shown. The checkboxes indicate which option has been
selected.
If a parameter shall be stored in the “result.txt” file more than once (e.g. if a
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concentration shall be stored in Volume% and Mass%), then this parameter can be
added several times, and the respective options can be selected in the variation box.
The options for different parameters are:
II) For calculated parameters (like Freezing and Flash point, distillation, etc):
Value Unit Correlation Type (Corr.Type) Warnings
To save the new format of the “result.txt” file, press OK. A beep will sound to indicate
that a new “result.txt” file has been created. The old result.txt file will be renamed to
resultyymmddhhmm.txt, where yymmddhhmm is the current date and time.
From the next measurement on, the results will be stored in the new “result.txt” file in
the selected format.
If a memory stick is connected to one of the USB connectors on the rear panel that
has a subdirectory “spec” (small letters!) in the directory \results\eraspec\, then the
absorbance spectrum will be saved on the memory stick after each measurement.
ATTENTION: The ERASPEC operating system may take up to 1 minute after the
measurement is finished before the spectrum is written to the memory stick. Please
wait for one minute after the measurement before you remove the memory stick from
the ERASPEC. Only then it is ensured that the spectrum is correctly stored on the
memory stick!
The name of the absorbance spectrum consists of date and time of the
measurement (in format YYMMDDhhmm) and the sample ID with the extension .spc.
The file contains a header, and then the absorbance values are written in one row to
this file. The header has 5 lines, and 5900 absorbance values are written in ASCII
format. Excel or any graphics program can be used to visualize the spectrum.
The spectrum file does not contain wave numbers. The first data point corresponds
to a wave number of 631 cm-1, the last data point to 4015 cm-1, and the increment
between successive absorbance values is 2349 / 4095 cm -1 = 0.5736 cm-1.
If the memory stick does not have the subdirectory “spec”, no spectra will be stored!
If you have sample with known properties such as Freezing Point, Flash Point,
Smoke Point, viscosity, Total aromatics, PNA, and/or distillation, it is easily possible
to add this sample to the data base.
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It is strongly recommended to add such samples that are typical for the Jet fuels that
are tested. Adding such representative samples is necessary to improve the
accuracy of the results for the calculated properties.
Perform a normal measurement with the known sample, as described in the section
“Taking measurements”. After the measurement is finished, you can either measure
additional samples with known properties, or go directly to the results menu.
Select the sample you want to add to the library by touching the line where this
sample is displayed. The selected sample line is then marked in green:
Press the button “Add to Lib”. The display shows then a list of all possible properties
that are calculated with the help of the data base:
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In the first line “LIBRARY”, you can select the data base to which the selected
sample shall be added. Touch the grey arrow box right of the text box that displays
the name of a data base, and the list of all available libraries will drop down:
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To enter the known value of a property, touch the box Value in the line of the
parameter whose value shall be entered. The keyboard will pop up, and now the
known value for this property can be entered.
In this way, enter all known values for each property.
If a value for a property is not known, leave the respective Value box blank. A blank
box indicates to the instrument that the respective value is not known for this sample,
and it then uses this sample only for calculations of these properties for which values
have been entered.
After all known properties have been entered, press OK to save this new sample in
the selected data base and to return to the result menu.
If “Cancel” is pressed, the process is cancelled, no new sample will be stored in the
data base, and you will return to the result menu.
A data base can be edited on the instrument itself, as described in the section “The
library editor”.
The data base can also be exported to a memory stick, as described in the section
“Export of libraries to a memory stick (flash drive)”.
The library file can then be opened and edited using Excel.
Any new or altered library then can be imported from a memory stick, as described in
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the section “Import of libraries from a memory stick (flash drive)”.
The function described here is accessible only for user levels 5 and higher!
As explained in the section “Results for calculated properties: CA and MLR”, the
ERASPEC performs the MLR calculation if Cluster Analysis cannot be applied. For
this calculation, several spectra areas that highly correlate with the calculated
properties are selected.
A specific selection of spectral areas fro MLR is called a “model”.
This selection or model may be changed if components are present in the Jet Fuel
samples that are not included in the standard MLR model or vice versa.
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In the right text white box, select the parameter for which the model shall be changed
by touching the name of this parameter (in the example below, Flash point is
selected):
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The correlation method can be selected by checking the CLU and/or MLR box. CLU
is Cluster Analysis (CA). Usually both MLR and CLU are selected.
In the line MLR, the number displayed in the white text box next to “PeakVec”
indicates the model that is used for the MLR calculation. 2 standard models are
available for different properties.
Please refer to the section “Standard MLR models” below for a detailed description
of the available standard models. If the model for the selected parameter shall be
changed to a different standard model, please enter the number of the desired
standard model in the white text box next to “PeakVec” in the line MLR.
For each calculated parameter, the MLR model can be changed in this way, as
described in more detail in the Section ”Changing and creating an MLR model”
below.
Press the “Ok” button to save the changes and to return to the Result menu.
If you press “Cancel”, the changes made will not be saved, and you will return to the
Result menu.
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The following table gives the standard models available in the ERASPEC:
Standard models are defined for types of Jet Fuel fuels for which a factory data base
is available.
It may be desirable to create or change a new model.
In the Result menu, press the button “Result” and select a calculated property. Then
press the green “..“ button next to PeakVec in the line MLR:
In the white numeric text box below Nr, select either the Nr of the existing standard
model that shall be changed (see the section “Standard MLR models” above for a
table of available standard models), or a number between 3 and 20 to create a new
model.
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In the white box “used for MLR”, the peak areas that are currently defined for the
selected model are displayed.
In the white box “available”, all additionally available peak areas are shown.
To add a peak area to the model, touch the respective name in the box “available”. It
will be marked green. Then move this selected peak area to the box “used for MLR”
by touching the button “>>”.
Repeat this for all peaks that shall be added to the selected model.
To remove a peak area from the model, touch the respective name in the box “used
for MLR”. It will be marked green. Then move this selected peak area to the box
“available” by touching the button “<<”.
Repeat this for all peaks that shall be removed from the selected model.
In order to actually use a new model for a calculated property, the correct number of
the model has to be entered.
Select the name of the calculated property from the list in the box “shown in result
screen”:
Then, in the line MLR, change the number in the white box next to PeakVec to the
number of the desired model.
Repeat this procedure for all calculated properties for which a new model shall be
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used.
Press “Ok” to save these changes or “Cancel” to leave this menu without saving.
In the line CLU, the number displayed in the white text box next to “Iterations”
indicates the number of iterations that will be made, with increasing acceptance
limits, to find a matching spectrum from the library as described in the section
“Cluster Analysis: CA1 to CA6”.
Usually 6 such iterations are made in the Jet Fuel module. If more or fewer iterations
shall be performed, then please set the number in the “Iterations” box to the number
of desired iterations:
The number of iterations has to be set separately for each parameter that is
calculated by CA.
In order to find a possible match, all peaks that are stored in the library are used to
compare to the unknown spectrum. Only if all peaks are sufficiently close, then a
spectrum is accepted for Cluster Analysis.
If, for some reason, not all peaks shall be used for Cluster Analysis, it is possible to
exclude one or several peaks.
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In the line CLU, the number displayed in the white text box next to “PeakVec” is
usually 0, meaning that all peaks are used for the comparison.
To exclude peaks, set this number to a different value:
Then touch the green box “..” next to PeakVec in the line CLU. The list of peaks that
are used for CA is shown:
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Move the peaks that shall not be used from the right box to the left box labeled
“available”:
Press OK to store this new selection. The peaks moved over to the left box will not
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be used to determine if a spectrum stored in the library is sufficiently close to the
unknown spectrum.
The PeakVec for CA has to be set separately for each parameter that is calculated
by CA!
For the calculated properties Cetane Number, T90, and T95, a factory data base is
available. Additionally, Cetane Index, Cetane Improver concentration, total Aromatics
concentration, PNA concentration, IBP, T10, T50, and FBP are standard parameters
that will be found in the result list.
It may be desirable to calculate other properties from the infrared spectrum that are
not included in the factory data base and are no standard parameters.
An example is the distillation property “Evaporated at xxx”, where xxx defines a
certain temperature. This temperature is defined in °Fahrenheit in some countries
and in °Celsius in others, and the specifications also vary from country to country.
Therefore it is not possible to define standard parameters for the property
“Evaporated at xxx”.
The ERASPEC has 10 additional “free” parameters that can be renamed and used in
the data base to make it possible to calculate additional properties.
Of course, at least 40 samples with known values for these new properties have to
be added to the data base, as described in the section “Adding a sample to the data
base”, before results for these additional properties will be calculated.
In order to add such a new parameter, go to the Result menu and press the “Edit:
Result” button:
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The additional parameters are shown in the box “available” and are labeled
“FREE01” through “FREE10”.
Select the “free” parameter by touching it, it will be marked green. Then move it to
the box “shown in result screen” using the “>>” button. It will appear at the end of the
list.
Select this parameter again by touching it.
In the upper box “substance settings”, its name can be changed in the white text box
“shown as”.
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If it is a concentration, check to box “vol/mass” and select the options how it shall be
displayed in the result list.
If it is any other parameter, enter its unit in the text box “unit” (e.g. for E400 or E250,
the unit could be V% or Vol%).
The number of decimal digits is one of the newly defined free parameter is 1.
However, if a parameter requires more or less decimal digits, the number of digits
can be defines as follows:
In the box unit, enter a minus ( - ), then the number of desired number of decimal
digits, and then the name of the unit, as shown in the example below (for the
viscosity unit mPas and 4 digits after the comma):
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If -0unit is entered, then the respective free parameter is displayed as integer.
Please go to the menu submenu Adv. The check boxes MLR and CLU should be
marked.
The MLR model that shall be used for the calculation of this newly defined parameter
has to be selected by entering the number of the desired model in the white text box
near “PeakVec”, as described in the section “Selecting a different standard MLR
model”.
If no standard model is applicable, create a new appropriate model, as described in
the section “Changing and creating a model”, and select the number of this new
model.
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.
In some situations, it is useful to use different libraries for different sample classes
(e.g. different process streams or different gasoline types). If more than one such
data bases exits, the library or libraries that will be used for a measurement can be
selected.
In the measurement menu, press LIBRARIES. The library selection menu is shown:
All libraries that are shown in the right-hand white box labeled “used” will be used for
the measurement.
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All libraries that are stored in the ERASPEC but are not used for a measurement are
shown in the left-hand white box labeled “available”.
Then press the button “>>”. The selected data base will be transferred to the right-
hand white box “used”.
Press OK to return to the measurement menu. The selected data base will from now
on be used for the determination of calculated properties.
Pressing “Cancel” cancels this process, and no additional data base will be used.
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Then press the button “<<”. The selected data base will be transferred to the left-
hand white box “available”.
Press OK to return to the measurement menu. The selected data base will from now
on not be used any more for the determination of calculated properties.
Pressing “Cancel” cancels this process, and no additional data base will be used.
Any erroneously removed data base can immediately be added again following the
procedure described in the section “Adding an existing data base”.
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Then press “New”. A file that contains the correct header is created and will be
added to the list “used” of data bases to be used for calculations:
This new library initially does not contain any data. Of course, to be meaningful,
samples have to be added to this new data base, as described in the section “Adding
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a sample to a data base”.
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The content of the library shown in the box on the upper right are displayed. To view
or edit a different library, please touch the grey field with the down arrow next to this
box and select the desired library from the drop down list:
Each line is one sample in the data base. The grey column shows the number of the
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sample, the following two columns show sample name and date of the
measurement, and the remaining columns contain the known values of the
respective parameters:
The data are sorted by date such that the oldest samples in the selected librar are
shown first, and the newest on the bottom of the list.
It is possible to sort by date or sample name, in descending or ascending order.
Click on the grey header Sample to sort by sample name in ascending order:
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Click again on the grey header Sample to reverse the order, switching to descending
order:
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Click again on the grey header Sample to reverse the order, switching to ascending
order:
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Use the and keys or the scroll bar on the bottom of the list to move to the
right and left to view the values for the respective parameters that are outside the
range of the display:
To scroll down the list, use the button to browse down line by line, or the button
to move down by one entire page.
If the button is pressed while the RUN key is pressed as well, you move down
100 samples.
When the button is pressed while the RUN key is pressed as well, you go down
to the last page (the oldest 15 samples), no matter which page is currently displayed.
Similarly, to move up to newer samples, the button moves the list up by one
sample, and use the button to move up one entire page.
With the button you can return to the first page (the newest 14 samples), no
matter which page is currently displayed.
It is possible to keep the sample name or the number displayed in the grey column
on the left of the display to make the editing easier. Select the options by touching
the grey field with the down arrow next to the # box at the upper left and select the
desired option from the drop down list:
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The following options are available:
#: Always shows the number of the measurement on the left of the list:
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#S: Always shows the number of the measurement and the full sample name on the
left of the list:
#S..: Always shows the number of the measurement and the first characters of the
sample name on the left of the list:
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#..S: Always shows the number of the measurement and the last characters of the
sample name on the left of the list:
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S: Always shows the full sample name on the left of the list:
To change or add a value for a parameter, simply touch the box where this number
shall be entered. The keyboard will open, and the value can be entered.
If a sample shall be removed, please set the cursor to the line of that sample, either
by very briefly touching a numerical box in that line or by touching the boxes for
sample name or date. Then press “Delete Line”. The sample in the marked line will
be deleted.
Press OK to leave the library editor and to save all changes that have been made.
Press Cancel to leave the editor and to cancel all changes that have been made.
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The statistical quantities used by ERASPEC are, if n is the number of samples in the
library with known reference values:
Standard Error of Calibration = SEC: This is the standard deviation of the calculated
values and the known reference values for all n samples in the library:
SEC = √ [(PMLR – PRef)² / n]
Coefficient of Determination = R²: This gives an estimate how well the linear model
can reproduce the known reference values. R² = 1 is a perfect correlation,
R² = 0 means no correlation at all.
These statistical values will be calculated only for the active libraries (libraries in the
right-hand box “used”).
To view this statistics, please press the button Stats:
Then a list of all parameters for which the minimum number of known values is
entered in the active libraries will be shown, together with the calculated SEC and R²
and the number of samples in the libraries n that have a value for the respective
parameter (since it is not necessary to enter all data for each sample, n can be
different for different parameters):
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For each parameter, it is possible to view a graph that shows the known refrence
values versus the calculated values. Touch the greybox with the white number just
left of the parameter name to view this graph:
The horizontal x-axis shows the reference values, the vertical y-axis shows the
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values calculated by MLR.
The table in the top half of the display shows the library, name of the sample in the
library, the refrence value entered in the library for this sample, and the difference
between calculated and reference value. The data are sorted by decreasing
differences between reference and calculated values (i.e. the sample with the
biggest difference is shown in the first line etc.)
In order to view the graph for a different parameter, touch the greybox with the small
white arrow in the upper right of the display and select the desired parameter by
touching on its name:
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If one or a few samples show a strikingly bigger difference than the other samples,
they may be considered and outlier. Either the reference value is wrong, or the
samples are very unusual and do not fit the rest of the samples in the library (in the
screenshot above, the first two samples have a much bigger difference for the olefin
concentration than the rest of the samples. In this case, they should be considered
outliers and the olefin values should be deleted from the library) .
In this case, it is possible to delete the value for this parameter from the library.
Touch the white box in the column where the reference value of the parameter is
displayed.
With the pop-up keyboard, delete the value with the << key and press enter. Only the
value of the currently displayed parameter is deleted from the library, the sample
with all other reference values remains in the library.
Each time a sample is deleted, the MLR coefficients and the statistics are
recalculated. This may take a few seconds, please wait.
When values have been deleted, the Cancel button wil become active:
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If Cancel is pressed, the display returns to the statistics screen, and the values will
be restored, i.e. no values will be deleted from the library for any sample.
If Ok is pressed, then the deleted values will actually and for good be deleted from
the library.
If a value has been deleted, the SEC, R², and n will be updated:
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Press Ok to leave the statistics menu and return to the LIBRARIES menu.
To delete a data base from the ERASPEC, the data base has to be listed in the left-
hand white box “available”.
If it is listed in the box “used”, move it to “available” using the “<<” button, as
described in the section “Removing a data base”.
Touch the name of the library you want to remove. This name will be marked green:
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Then press “Delete”. ERASPEC asks for confirmation:
Press confirm to irrevocably delete the selected data base from the memory of the
ERASPEC.
Press Cancel to stop the deletion. Then the marked library will remain unchanged in
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the ERASPEC memory.
ATTENTION! The deleted data base cannot be recovered! Please take care that
only libraries that really are not needed any more are deleted.
It is necessary to activate this library set function. To activate please go to the menu
System-Passwd and enter LibSet:1 in the box Method Code:
When the library set function has been activated, an additional box LibSet will shown
in the Measure menu:
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To create a new set, touch the white box and enter the name of the new set using
the pop-up keyboard.
The desired set can be selected then by touching the grey arrow box. Touch the
name of the set that shall be used on the drop down list of available sets:
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For each set the libraries can be selected separately. Select the name of the set,
then go to the LIBRARIES submenu and select the desired libraries that shall be
used with this set by moving the desired libraries to the “used” box.
In this way, select the libraries for each defined set
Before a measurement is taken, the desired set can be selected very quickly from
the LibSet drop down list.
The data are stored on the memory stick in the directory \results\eraspec\”Serial
Number”\gas\lib\. You can find the serial number of your instrument on the
accompanying test sheet, on the back of the instrument, or in the System menu (see
the section “Instrument-specific information”). It has the format ESxxxxxxx, where the
x are numbers.
The libraries have the extension .LIB. The columns in these files are separated by a
Tab and can readily be imported to Excel.
In extremely rare cases it may happen that the memory stick will not be mounted,
and then the “Import from” and “Export to” buttons will not become active when a
memory stick is connected. In that happens please switch the ERASPEC off and
then on again. Then the memory stick will be correctly mounted.
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Connect the memory stick containing the data base to be imported. The ERASPEC
mounts the memory stick, and when this mounting is completed, the display shows
the path on the memory stick from which it will transfer the libraries left of the button
“Import from”.
Press the button “Import from” to transfer all libraries stored on the memory stick.
During the transfer, the message “wait” is displayed.
When a library on the USB memory stick exists already on the ERASPEC, then the
ERASPEC asks for confirmation to overwrite the existing library:
When confirm is pressed, the library is copied from the USB memory stick to the
ERASPEC, overwriting the library that existed in the ERASPEC memory
When ignore is pressed, then ERASPEC does not copy this library from the memory
stick, leaving the library on ERASPEC unchanged.
When the data transfer is complete, please unmount the memory stick by touching
the button “Unmount”. The instrument indicates this by a beep.
You can now safely remove the memory stick from the ERASPEC.
In extremely rare cases it may happen that the memory stick will not be mounted,
and then the “Import from” and “Export to” buttons will not become active when a
memory stick is connected. In that happens please switch the ERASPEC off and
then on again. Then the memory stick will be correctly mounted.
ATTENTION: If you import a library from the USB memory stick which has been
modified but whose name remains unchanged, then the modifications will be
recognized by ERASPEC only if the library is in the inactive box (the “available” box)
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in the library selection menu!
If the old library is still in the “used” box, then ERASPEC will not load the
modifications immediately, only after the next restart of the instrument!
In the result menu, display the result list of the desired measurement, as described in
the Sections “Viewing stored results”:
Touch the button Spectrum. The spectrum will be calculated and displayed. Please
be patient, the calculation takes about three seconds, only then the spectrum will
appear on the display:
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The x-axis (abscissa) shows the wavenumber in cm-1, the y-axis (ordinate) shows
the absorbance in absorbance units.
The vertical cursor can be moved either by touching the display (then the cursor will
jump to the respective x-position) or with the buttons “<” and “>” in the line “Cursor”
in the Spectrum box.
The buttons “<” and “>” will move the cursor only one step which is about 0.6 c m-1.
In the boxes “x” and “y” in the line “Cursor”, the wavenumber and absorbance of the
spectrum at the position of the cursor are displayed.
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Press the respective “in” button repeatedly to zoom into successively smaller
regions.
If the cursor is placed on the left or right corner of the graphics window, then the
zoom in function will expand the x-axis only to one side of the cursor if “in” in the X
box is pressed:
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To return to the previous region, press “out” in the X- and / or Y box.
To return to the full region, press “reset”.
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20.2.2 Display of several spectra
To view several spectra overlaid on the same scale, touch “Legend” on top of the
bottom box:
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To go down the list to still older spectra, use the button to browse down line by
line, or the button to move down by one entire page.
Similarly, to move up to newer spectra, the button moves the list up by one
spectrum, and use the button to move up one entire page.
With the button you can return to the first page (the newest 15 spectra), no
matter which page is currently displayed.
Select the reference spectrum that you want to recalculate by touching the name of
this spectrum. It will be marked by a bold box. Then press “Ok”. The selected,
additional spectrum will be calculated, which again takes about three seconds, and
then displayed together with the previous spectrum:
The names of the displayed spectra are displayed in the “Legend” box, and the color
in which the name is written is the same as the color in which the respective
spectrum is drawn.
Up to four different spectra can be displayed using the button “Open…” repeatedly:
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If the white box left to the name of the spectrum is clocked, then this spectrum will
not be displayed any more:
If this white box is marked again, then the spectrum will be displayed again.
315
If, after loading four spectra, another spectrum is opened, then the fourth (blue)
spectrum will be deleted, and the just opened spectrum will be displayed instead.
If you return to the “Spectrum” box, the “Zoom” in and out function will work for all
displayed spectra simultaneously:
To compare absorbance values for the displayed spectra, zoom into the region of
interest and set the cursor to the desired wavenumber or desired absorbance peak.
The box “#1” on the lower right indicates the spectrum for which the absorbance is
shown in the box “y”.
To show the absorbance for a different spectrum, touch the box “#1” and select the
desired spectrum from the drop down list:
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The cursor will jump to the selected spectrum, and the absorbance value of this
spectrum will be shown in the “y” box:
Press “Exit” to return to leave the graphics mode and to return the result list:
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20.2.2 The Substances tab
ATTENTION: This feature is only available in the Gasoline and Gasoline CGM
module.
ERASPEC uses a set of pure substance spectra and a classical least square (CLS)
fit to determine the concentrations of the various components of the sample. The
results from the fit (i.e. the concentrations) are shown in the results list. The fit results
and the individual components can also be viewed graphically. To view the pure
substance spectra, press the Substance tab:
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Select any of the substances from the dropdown list to show it together with the
measured spectrum.
Only spectra with concentrations above the limit of detection are shown in the
dropdown list. The spectra are scaled with the amplitudes from the CLS fit to
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highlight the influence of each of the substances. In some regions more than one
substance contributes to the absorption spectrum and more than one spectrum must
be used to account for the total absorption spectrum.
Use the three boxes to show up to three different substances together with the
measured gasoline spectrum.
Return to the Spectrum tab to zoom in on any of the peaks, as described in the
sections above.
These data can be transferred to a connected PC with a ftp file transfer program. For
service and diagnosis purposes in the field, when no PC is connected, it may be
helpful to write these data to a connected USB memory stick (flash drive).
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After a measurement, the data will be written to the directory \results\eraspec\tmp\. If
a new measurement is started, then the old data will be overwritten.
Ref.ifg and in.ifg contain the raw data (inteferograms). The *.spc files are spectra (or
the same spectrum calculated in different ways) of the last measurement in ASCII
format with a header containing useful information.
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21. System menu
In the System menu, different settings and formats can be defined according to your
needs and preferences.
Enter the System menu by touching “System” in the top line of the display:
The information displayed in these boxes is generated automatically and can not be
changed.
The ERASPEC offers 6 user levels to limit the accessibility of the different menus.
The change of user levels is protected by a password.
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The higher the user level is set, the more menus are accessible.
User level 1 is the lowest level with most restrictions. In this user level, the operator
can change only the sample ID and the operator name, can perform measurements
of samples and references, can view and print results and save results on a memory
stick. All other parameters are not accessible or are not even shown and thus cannot
be modified. This level allows unskilled people to run measurements without any risk
of doing something wrong.
User level 2 allows the same operations as user level 1, and in addition, samples
with known properties can be added to a data base in the result menu.
User level 3 allows the same operations as user level 2. In addition, all the functions
in the “LIBRARIES” menu can be performed, and the result list can be customized
with the “Column” function in the result menu
User level 4 allows the same operations as user level 3, and in addition, the
parameters shown in the system menus “Ports” and “General” can be changed. Also,
the settings in the result menu are accessible at this level.
User level 5 allows the same operations as user level 4, and in addition, the
password can be changed and redefined.
For the Gasoline analyzer: If the optional method EN238 is installed, it is possible to
select either the gasoline method or the EN238 method
For the Jet Fuel analyzer: If the optional method EN14078 is installed, it is possible
to select either the gasoline method or the EN14078 method
User level 6 allows the same operations as user level 5, and in addition, it gives full
access to the normally hidden “Maint” menu (the maintenance and service menu)
and to the additional menus “Network”, App”, and “Test”. These additional menus are
described in the Sections “User Level 6: …”.
NEVER use user level 6 for the routine operation of the ERASPEC
analyzer!
To change the user level you have to enter a password, as described below in the
section below.
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21.3 Changing the user level
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Enter the new password next to the text box “New Password”, and then enter this
new password in the text box next to “Repeat”. Press the “Save” button.
If all was done correctly the message “Password changed” appears, and the new
password is saved.
For any future changes of user level or password, this new password has to be used.
Please make sure that you remember this password.
ATTENTION: NEVER leave this menu without setting the user level
to 5 or lower!
If you forget the password, please call your local representative or eralytics.
1 page / measurement: mark to get one page per measurement (i.e. an automatic
form feed is performed after a result was printed)
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automatic printing: after the measurement is finished the result is
automatically transferred to the printer and printed if this
option is marked
Post Script: Needs to be selected for a printer that can handle Post
Script to print Chinese or Japanese characters correctly
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ISO8859-1 is a common European code.
IBM866, CP1251 and KOI8-R are Cyrillic character sets.
UTF-8 is a universal but different code.
Port: Select the COM Port for printing and data transfer. The
following ports are available:
COM 1: connect at the serial port of the instrument a
serial cable (9 pin male to 9 pin female,
non-crossover). Use a 9 pin to 25pin
converter to connect the printer.
USBCom1
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USBCom2: Connect a USB to serial converter cable to
any of the USB ports on the back side of the
instrument. Use a 9 pin male to 9 pin female
cable and a 9 to 25 pin adapter to connect
this converter to the printer. The first
converter plugged in will be USBCom1, the
second one USBCom2. When you switch
on the Instrument with the converters
already plugged the topmost USB plug will
be USBCom1.
Printer
ERASPEC
Set the baud rate, data bit, stop bit, parity bit and the handshake control by pushing
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the respective dropdown list below the line “Port” for the selected USBCOM interface
Test: a string will be sent to the selected COM Port to test the selected data transfer.
Server: Enter the name of the computer or server where the printer and printer
drivers are installed in this box.
Shared Printer: Enter the name of the printer which shall be used.
User: Enter the user name under which you access the server
Password: Enter the password with which you access the server
Status: Shows the status of the last printout. If it was successful, it shows
Status OK, if not, an error message appears
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21.4.2 Compatible printers
Only printers that understand PCL 5 (PCL=Printer Command Language) or higher
PCL versions can be used with the ERASPEC. Other printers will not work properly.
Eralytics tested and recommends the following printers:
In this menu, the settings for date and time, the respective formats, the units to
display quantities like density, distillation temperatures and vapor pressure, and the
language can be changed and set as desired.
Touch “General” in the “Settings” box to access the menu for units and date and
time.
To change the units for the temperatures that are measured, calculated and
displayed (such as the temperatures of sample cell and density meter, calculated
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distillation points), touch the white text box in the submenu “Units” in the line
“Temperature” or the grey bar on the right-hand side of the text box. Select the
desired unit from the drop down list.
The available units are C (°Celsius) and F (° Fahrenheit).
Touch the desired unit to select it. When you leave the “Display” menu, the selected
unit is automatically stored and will be used for all displayed temperatures.
The available units are kg/cm @T, g/ccm @T, °API, SG (specific gravity), kg/cm,
and g/ccm.
cm means cubic meter (m3), ccm stands for cubic centimeter (cm3).
The built-in density meter has no temperature control. It measures the density at the
current temperature and also this ambient temperature with a built-in temperature
sensor.
The value of the density in kg/cm or g/ccm can either be displayed at the ambient
temperature or at a constant temperature that can be defined.
For the two units kg/cm and g/ccm, the density at ambient temperature will be
displayed in the result list, together with the measure temperature.
For the two units kg/cm @T and g/ccm @T, the density at the temperature that is
entered will be displayed.
When you leave the “Display” menu, the selected unit and temperature are
automatically stored and will be used for the density displayed in the result list.
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21.5.4 Setting of date and time
To change the date and time that the instruments stores with each result, touch the
respective white text box below the quantity you want to change. The meanings of
the different boxes are:
D … Day
M … Month
Y … Year
H … Hour
m … Minute
Enter the desired value. Touch “Set” to store the new values.
It is also possible to change the format of the displayed date. Touch the white text
box next to “Format” or the grey bar on the right-hand side of this box to select the
desired format from the drop down list.
The available formats are D/M/Y (day/month/year) or M/D/Y (month/day/year).
Touch the desired unit to select it.
When you leave the “Display” menu, the selected format is automatically stored and
will be used for the date displayed in the result list and result menu.
In the submenu General of the menu System, select the desired language from the
drop-down list in the Language Settings box in the line Language:
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If the language is changed, the ERASPEC restarts automatically because the
necessary language modules and character sets need to be loaded. Please wait until
the start-up sequence is finished.
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and Chinese:
For output files, like the result.txt file, usually UTF-8 is used. It may be necessary to
use a different codepage. Please select the desired codepage from the drop-down
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list Codepage for Output Files:
ATTENTION: After the setup of the language and codepage format, please set
the user level to 5 or lower. NEVER use user level 6 for the routine operation of
the ERASPEC analyzer!
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21.6.1 Beeper after measurements
The ERASPEC has a beeper. It can be selected if the beeper shall be briefly
activated after a measurement is finished to give an audible alert, or if the beeper
shall be inactivated.
In the menu System – Spec, touch the check box “On” in the box “Alarm after
Measurement” to mark or unmark the check box.
If the box is checked, a brief sound will be given after each measurement (including
reference measurements).
If the box is unmarked, no sound will be given after a measurement is finished.
The check and possible recalibration of the density meter is usually done with a pure
solvent, such as 2-propanol, which has a density similar to the samples used in
ERASPEC and whose density at different temperatures is known from the literature.
It is necessary to know the density of the calibration fluid as a function of
temperature because the density meter is not temperature controlled. Therefore the
density is measured at the temperature that is inside the density meter, which is
usually several degrees above ambient!
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35°C (68°F and 95°F) in the two tables below. If the temperature is between two
tabulated values, please interpolate the density accordingly to calculate the density
at that particular temperature.
Table 1: Density of 2-Propanol (Isopropanol) between 20 and 35°C (68°F and 95°F)
Of course it is possible to use other compounds as well for the density calibration
check provided that the density at the temperature of the density meter is known.
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Please go to the menu System-Spec:
Insert the inlet tube in a container with the pure solvent you intend to use to check
the density meter.
The necessary functions are found in the box “Density Calibration”.
Switch on the density meter with the On button, then press the button Fill. ERASPEC
will draw in sample. After that, the density of the sample, together with the
temperature of the sample in the density meter is displayed:
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If there is a difference between the displayed density and the literature value at the
displayed temperature, this difference can be corrected by an offset. Enter the
desired density offset in the Density Calibration box in the line offset and press the
“Save” button to store this offset value. A beep will sound to confirm that the new
value has been saved.
This offset will be added to the measured density (thus, if the density displayed by
ERASPEC is too high, a negative offset has to be entered, and if the density
displayed by ERASPEC is too low, the offset that has to be entered is positive).
Then take the inlet tube out if the sample container and press “Empty” to pump the
sample out of the ERASPEC.
Press On again to switch off the density meter.
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ERASPEC will beep to confirm the correct input.
Now different offset values for the density meter can be defined for different methods
in the menu System – Spec.
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To deactivate the method-specific density meter calibration, please go to the menu
System – Password and enter DensCal:0 in the box Method Code.
To enter a different value for the expansion coefficient, please go to the menu
System – Spec:
Enter the desired value for the expansion coefficient in the white box next to
Exp. Coeff =, in 10-5/K.
In order to restore the default values listed above, please press the Default button.
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It is important to note that a new expansion coefficient will only be used to calculate
the density at the specified temperature and for the Volume% to Mass% conversion.
The density value used for the library and all calculations that use the library will still
be calculated using the default value for the expansion coefficient. This ensures that
older libraries can still be used consistently and still give the same results, even if a
different expansion coefficient is entered.
21.6.5 Counter
ERASPEC has a counter which counts the number of measurements performed with
the instrument. The number of measurements performed is displayed in the menu
System – Spec in the “Number Measurements” box:
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The field “Network Instrument Name” gives all useful information necessary for such
a connection.
The name of the ERASPEC is given in the box “Name”, you can give it any name,
but you can use only letters and numbers (and the underscore).
If you have a DHCP server in your network and you want to use it, then the box “use
DHCP” has to be checked. Touch the “Apply” button to connect to the network.
ERASPEC will then automatically get an IP address and connect to the LAN. All
fields except for the Name field will be grayed since this information is given by the
DHCP server.
The ERASPEC can then be recognized in the LAN either by its name (given in the
box “Name”) if you have a local DNS server, or by its IP address.
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If you do not have a DHCP Server you must fill the IP Address and IP Mask field
(Please ask your system administrator about this numbers):
The domain, gateway and the DNS field are currently not needed, but you can enter
the information if you have it. Maybe in future there are applications which will need
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this information.
After filling these fields touch the Apply button.
ATTENTION: After the setup of the network, please set the user level to 5 or
lower. NEVER use user level 6 for the routine operation of the ERASPEC
analyzer!
After a measurement is finished a result string can be sent to the PC or LIMS. The
result string can be easily customized and adjusted to your requirements. Please see
section “Option Files” to customize the output format.
To set up the LIMS connection, please go to the menu System – submenu LIMS:
Set up the LIMS connection depending on the port used (Serial or Ethernet) as
described below.
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The following ports are available:
COM 1: Use a 9 pin male to 9 pin female, non-crossover cable to connect the
instrument (the 9 pin sub D connector on the back) to a PC.
USBCom1
USBCom2: Connect a USB to serial converter cable to any of the USB ports on the
back side of the instrument. Use a 9 pin male to 9 pin female cable to
connect this converter to a PC. The first converter plugged in will be
USBCom1, the second one USBCom2. When you switch on the
Instrument with the converters already plugged the topmost USB plug
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will be USBCom1.
Set the baud rate, data bit, stop bit, parity bit and the handshake control by pushing
the respective dropdown list for the selected COM or USBCom interface in the box
Com-Port Settings.
To test the connection and data transfer, you can send a test string to the selected
COM Port by pushing the Test button. You can use a terminal program to see the
output (e.g. Hyper Terminal is the standard program delivered with Microsoft
Windows).
After each measurement, the string containing the results will be sent to the serial
interface. The format of this result string format can be set and defined in the
“eraspec.comp” file (see section “Option files”).
ATTENTION: After the setup of the LIMS, please set the user level to 5 or
lower. NEVER use user level 6 for the routine operation of the ERASPEC
analyzer!
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Enter the necessary information in the boxes Network Share and Output:
The following information has to be entered in the respective boxes:
File Name: The name of the file to which data shall be written after a
measurement. This file will be written into the shared directory on the
PC.
If you enter a %d in the filename it will be replaced with the actual time
in the format MMYYhhmm, %m will be replaced with the actual
measurement type.
All methods (gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, EN methods) share the same
output file unless %m is used in the file name.
To create a new file for each measurement, %d has to be used in the
file name.
Example: %d_Result_%m would expand to the following filename:
01101059_Result_diesel (for the Diesel analyzer).
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the ERASPEC software (the measurement cannot be completed,
and the EARSPC needs to be restarted) !
File Extension: Any file extension can be entered. The file written is a text file, so
most appropriate is .txt.
Append: When this box is marked, new results will be appended to the specified
result file, otherwise a new file will be written (overwriting the old file).
ATTENTION: If you use %d in the filename a new file will be written with each result.
The Append checkbox has no effect in this case.
After defining all necessary parameters, a test string can be sent to the specified file
by pushing the Test button in the line Port in order to test the connection and data
transfer. If the string was sent successfully, the Status “OK” is displayed. Otherwise
an error message will be shown.
Now, after each measurement, the results will be written to the specified file. The
format in which the results are stored in this file can be set and defined in the
“eraspec.comp” file (see section “Option files”).
ATTENTION: After the setup of the LIMS, please set the user level to 5 or
lower. NEVER use user level 6 for the routine operation of the ERASPEC
analyzer!
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21.9 Option Files
In this menu, predefined printer and LIMS format files can be loaded to the
ERASPEC which define the format of the printed or transferred result (which
parameters are printed, in which order, etc).
Please open this file with an appropriate editor on your PC. A description is included
in the file.
A description of the substance codes can also be found on the memory stick that is
delivered with the ERASPEC, in the directory \erasoft\eraspec\var\, in the file
“substance.codes”.
Modify the file on your PC as desired and save it under any name, but it is necessary
to keep the extension .print (otherwise the ERASPEC does not recognize this
modified file as a printer format file).
The modified file should not be named default.print. Any files with the name
default.print will be overwritten with the next software upgrade.
Save the modified printer format file on the memory stick in the same directory
\erasoft\eraspec\var\”METHOD”\ which contains the default.print template file.
Connect the memory stick to a USB port at the rear panel. Please wait a few
seconds while the memory stick is automatically mounted.
Go to the menu System – Submenu General and push the button Load in the
“Option Files” box:
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In the grey box, under File type, select Printer forms (*.print) from the drop-down list:
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Select the directory of the memory stick on which the printer file is stored:
usbdisk\erasoft\eraspec\var\”METHOD”\.
The default printer files that should be available on ERASPEC already are stored in
the directory usbdisk\erasoft\eraspec\var\”METHOD”\default.
Select the printer file that you want to use with the ERASPEC and press the Open
button to upload this file to the ERASPEC.
Then please go to the menu System – Submenu Print and select the printer file that
was uploaded in the line Form from the drop down list:
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All printouts will from now on be in the format specified in the new printer format file.
Please open this file with an appropriate editor on your PC. A description is included
in the file.
A description of the substance codes can also be found on the memory stick that is
delivered with the ERASPEC, in the directory \erasoft\eraspec\var\, in the file
“substance.codes”.
Save the modified LIMS format file on the memory stick in the same directory
\erasoft\eraspec\var\”METHOD”\default which contained the original template file
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(overwrite the old one).
Connect the memory stick to a USB port at the rear panel. Please wait a few
seconds while the memory stick is automatically mounted.
Go to the menu System – Submenu General and push the button Load in the
“Option Files” box:
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In the grey box, under File type, select COM form (*.comp) from the drop-down list:
Select the directory of the memory stick on which the printer file is stored:
usbdisk\erasoft\eraspec\var\”METHOD”\default.
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The default printer files that should be available on ERASPEC already are stored in
the directory usbdisk\erasoft\eraspec\var\”METHOD”\default.
Select the eraspec.comp file and press the Open button to upload this file to the
ERASPEC.
The automatic computer (LIMS) output will from now on be in the format specified in
the new eraspec.comp file.
Touch – Cal: Starts the calibration program for the touchscreen. If the locations
shown on the display and the location where the display has to be touched to
activate the touchscreen are not the same any more (i.e. that the touchscreen and
the display are out of alignment), please perform the Touch-Cal function.
This function will show a crosshair successively in each corner and in the center of
the display. Please touch the center or the crosshair as accurately as possible for
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each of these five locations. The touchscreen will then be realigned with the display.
Loader: With this program, the software for the 3 microprocessors can be loaded
from a connected memory stick.
Exit: Stops the program, i.e. the ERASPEC cannot be used any more. It needs to be
switched off and on again to be ready for use again.
Screenshot mode: This is not a standard function. Its use is described in the service
manual.
Show Icon Text: If this checkbox is marked, the icons and text will be shown for the
submenu tabs on the top of the line of the display. If this checkbox is unmarked, only
the icons will be displayed:
Show Mouse: If this checkbox is marked, a small black arrow will be shown on the
display that indicates the current position of the cursor. If this checkbox is unmarked,
no position indicator will be displayed.
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ATTENTION: After leaving the App submenu, please set the user level to 5 or
lower. NEVER use user level 6 for the routine operation of the ERASPEC
analyzer!
The brightness of the display can be adjusted in the menu System – App with the
scrollbar in the box “Tools” next to Brightness:
To increase the display brightness, slide the vertical bar to the right.
Sliding the vertical bar to the left decreases the display brightness.
The standard background color is light grey. It is possible to change the background
color.
In the menu System – App, press the button “BG Color” in the Tools box:
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Generating new background colors:
There are three ways of generating a new background color:
1) Select a new background color from the boxes shown at “Basic colors”:
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The selected color is shown in the large box above “Add to Custom Colors”. Then
press OK: The background will be changed to the selected color:
2) Create a new color from the color chart on the right-hand side of the display
by moving the black cross to the desired color position:
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The selected color is shown in the large box above “Add to Custom Colors”. Then
press OK: The background will be changed to the selected color:
3) Change the numerical values for the Hue, Sat, Val, Red, Green, or Blue field
by touching the respective field and entering a new value, using the numerical
NUM keyboard:
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When “ENTER” is pressed, the new value is saved, and the background changes
to the new setting:
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Touch the upper right box in the Custom color area. This is always the factory
background color:
Then press OK. The background color will change to that factory setting:
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The numerical values for the factory background color are:
Hue=36 / Sat=15 / Val=213 / Red=213 / Green=208 / Blue=200
Touch any box except for the two rightmost boxes in the area Custom colors to mark
this box as the place where the new color will be stored:
Then select a color, either by selecting from a box in the Basic colors area or by
moving the cross in the color chart, as described above:
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Then click on “Add to Custom Colors”. The selected box in the Custom colors area
will turn to the desired color:
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The stored background color is now available in the selected box in the customer
colors area any time in this menu and can be selected simply by touching this box
and pressing OK:
ATTENTION: After leaving the App submenu, please set the user level to 5 or
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lower. NEVER use user level 6 for the routine operation of the ERASPEC!
The standard font color is black. It is possible to change the font color.
In the menu System – App, press the button “FG Color” in the Tools box:
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Generate and store new colors just as described for the background colors in the
section above. Then the font color will change to the selected color:
To change back to the default black color, it is easiest to enter 0 in all boxes for Hue,
Sat, Val, Red, Green, and Blue.
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ATTENTION: After leaving the App submenu, please set the user level to 5 or
lower. NEVER use user level 6 for the routine operation of the ERASPEC!
On the bottom of the display, there is a box “Change Methods”. Touch the white box
Method Code and enter the code you received using the pop-up keyboard.
A beep after that indicates that the code was accepted. Now the new options are
available on the instrument and on the ERASOFT RCS PC software.
If there is no beep, then most probably one of the numbers was wrong or missing.
Please enter the code again.
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22. User level 6: The Maint menu
NEVER use user level 6 for the routine operation of the ERASPEC
analyzer!
The Maint menu is for service, maintenance and failure diagnosis only. It is
accessible only if user level 6 is selected.
The user level can be changed as described in the section “Changing the user level”.
Enter the Maintenance menu by touching “Maint” in the top line of the display:
Some components and devices can be switched on and off in the upper portion of
this menu.
In the lower part of the Maint menu, several submenus are available to test functions
specific to a device or component. These submenus are described in the sections
below.
Generally, to switch something on, the respective green button has to be touched.
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Then the respective component is switched on, and the respective button turns
yellow. Touch a yellow button again to switch the device off. The button turns green
again.
The following functions and readouts are available in the upper part of the menu:
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If the button Fwd is touched, the drive moves forward and stops after this button
is touched again, or automatically after 10 seconds.
The button Back has the same function, but the drive moves backward.
For the function activated by the Home button, the laser has to be switched on. If
Home is touched, the drive moves the mirror back to the initial position.
In the grey box below t, the period of the sinusoidal interference pattern of the
laser is displayed.
The grey box below Amp displays the intensity of the laser measured by a Si
photo diode. When the laser is off, or when the drive is not activated, then Amp is
0. When the laser is on and the mirror is moved by the drive, this value should be
higher than 15 and can reach values up to 150.
5) Fifth line:
In this line, the density meter, the valve, fan, and pump can be switched on and
off using the respective buttons labeled Dens., Valve, Fan, and Pump.
In the grey box below Dens, the current density measured by the built-in density
meter is displayed.
The grey box below T displays the current temperature of the density meter, i.e.
the temperature of the sample at which the density is measured.
If the density meter is switched off, only zeros will be shown in the boxes for
density and density meter temperature.
6) Sixth line:
For the function activated by the Scan button, the laser has to be switched on,
and the mirror has to be in the initial position. If Scan is touched, the mirror is
scanned over the entire range, and the intensity of the IR detector is recorded
and stored in the file in.ifg in the ERASPEC subdirectory ...\tmp\.
During the scan, the elongated box next to Scan turns red, and the number of
recorded data is displayed in this box. At the end of the scan, this box turns green
and shows the total number of data recorded.
At the same time, the drive moves the mirror back to the initial position. Only after
this initial position is reached, the laser may be switched off.
The laser temperature and current have to be constant for stable laser operation.
The temperature is kept at a preset value using a small thermoelectric element and a
PI controller. In this menu, the settings for the laser operation can be entered.
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The following functions and readouts are available in this menu:
1) In the white box next to Tset, the set temperature of the laser temperature
controller is displayed and can be entered or changed. The default value for
red lasers only is 28 °C = 82.4 °F.
2) By touching the button labeled On, the laser temperature controller can be
switched on and off.
3) The grey boxes next to R, I display the voltage currently applied by the
proportional and integral part, respectively, to the thermoelectric element.
4) In the white box next to Cur, the current through the laser is displayed and
can be entered or changed.
5) The grey box in the line Cur shows any corrections to the laser current that
are applied when the amplitude of the laser signal falls outside of a certain
range so that the synchronization between laser, motor and IR detector is not
possible (e.g. if the laser current is 150 and the correction is -3, then actually
a current of 147 is applied).
6) Grey boxes Amin and Amax show the minimum and maximum of the laser
signal during the last scan. Amin should always be > 15, Amax should be <
230. If the laser signal falls outside this range, then the laser current is
automatically corrected as described under 7).
7) The grey box LAmax (V) shows the maximum of the laser signal in Volts that
was observed during a forward scan. The ADC saturates at about 4.9 V, so
Lmax should, after a scan, be less than 4.8 to avoid saturation of the laser
detector.
8) In the line Kmin 67xx = yyyy. yyyy is the position of a specific water vapor
absorption line in the last measured spectrum. yyyy is around 6720.
9) Peak @ xxxx: This is the position of the large peak in the raw data the
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interferogram. This position needs to be > 130 and < 940, otherwise the
spectrum cannot be calculated with the desired resolution. Usually, it should
be between 400 and 800.
The intensity of the IR source is kept at a preset value during a measurement, using
a NIR photo diode and a PI controller. In this menu, the settings for the IR source
controller can be entered.
1) In the white box next to Iset, the set intensity (as measured by the NIR photo
diode) of the IR source controller is displayed and can be entered or changed.
2) With the button R-Fix, the IR source is switched on in the constant voltage
mode, i.e. a constant voltage is applied to the IR source, and the intensity
controller is NOT working. The value of this constant voltage can be entered
or changed in the white box next to R-Fix.
3) In the white boxes next to Kp, Ki, the proportional and integral control
parameters, respectively, for the IR intensity controller are shown and can be
entered or changed. Default settings are 40 and 150, respectively.
4) In the white box next to # Data, the number of data recorded during a scan is
displayed and can be entered or changed. Default setting is 4708 (except for
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method Fuel Ethanol and FAME in Jet Fuel, where it is lower).
5) In the white box next to # ifg-pts, the number of data that are used for the
FFT is displayed and can be entered or changed. Default setting is (except for
method Fuel Ethanol and FAME in Jet Fuel, where it is lower).
6) If the letters # Data and # ifg-pts are shown in black or dark green then the
green laser is installed in the ERASPEC. If these letters are shown in red then
the ERASPEC has the red laser installed.
7) In the white box next to Gain, the gain for the IR detector is displayed and can
be entered or changed. Default setting is 255.
8) In the white box next to Filter, the cut-off frequency for the low-pass filter for
the IR detector is displayed and can be entered or changed. Default setting is
240.
In this menu, the settings for the positions and movements of the absorption cell can
be entered.
1) In the white box next to Speed, the velocity of the cell (in steps/second of the
cell drive) is displayed and can be entered or changed. Default setting is 8.
2) When a desired position is entered in the white box below Goto, the cell
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moves, starting from its current position, the entered number of steps.
3) The initial position of the cell is defined by the signal of a Hall sensor sensing
a magnet. If the button 0 is touched, the cell moves to this initial position.
4) Whenever the motor moves, the drive system is enabled, and the white
square left of Enable is marked.
5) When the cell is in the initial position, or at negative positions, the Hall sensor
detects the cell magnet. The white square left of Sensor is marked whenever
this magnet is detected by the Hall sensor.
6) Contrast is the Peak-to-Peak height of the big maximum in the interferogram,
I.e. Contrast = Imax –Imin. It is usually between 35000 and 50000.
7) The two numbers below Contrast are the minimum and maximum intensity
Imin and Imax of the signal in the interferogram.
8) With the green buttons below Set Pos, the limits for the cell movement and
the fixed positions needed for measurements can be defined.
With the function Goto described above, the cell can be moved to the desired
position. With the cell at the desired position, the following positions can be
defined by touching the respective button:
A) The lower limit of movement with the button B
B) The standard position 20 for gasoline samples with the button 2
C) The standard position 100 for diesel samples with the button 1
D) The standard position Ref for the reference spectrum with the button 3
E) The upper limit of movement with the button E
9) In the grey boxes below Set Pos, the current limits for the cell movement and
the fixed positions needed for measurements are displayed.
10) In the white boxes next to t-fill1, t-fill2, and t-fill1, the parameters defining the
timing for the routines to fill and remove sample for a measurement are shown
and can be entered or changed. For the Gasoline analyzer, default settings
are 5, 15, and 5, respectively, and for the Diesel analyzer, the default settings
are respectively 8, 20, and 7.
The velocity of the mirror is controlled during a measurement, using the laser signal
and a PI controller.
In this menu, the settings for the movement of the mirror drive can be entered.
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The following functions and readouts are available in this menu:
1) In the white boxes below Speed, the mirror drive velocity can be entered or
changed, for forward and backward movements separately in the line fwd and
Back, respectively. Default setting for Back is 54, and the value for fwd is
usually between 70 and 85.
2) In the white boxes below Inc, the increment per step for the mirror drive can
be entered or changed, for forward and backward movements separately in
the line fwd and Back, respectively. Default settings are 14 for fwd and -16
for Back.
3) When the mirror is in the initial position, the mirror drive Hall sensor detects
the magnet of the mirror drive. The white square left of Sensor is marked
whenever this magnet is detected by the Hall sensor.
4) In the white boxes next to Kp, Ki, the proportional and integral control
parameters, respectively, for the mirror drive velocity controller are shown and
can be entered or changed. Default settings are 2 and 255, respectively.
5) In the white box next to t-set, the set period of the sinusoidal interference
pattern of the laser is displayed. This value is usually between 28 and 40 for
green lasers and between 20 and 30 for red lasers.
6) For the function activated by the t-Scan button, the laser has to be switched
on, and the mirror has to be in the initial position. If t-Scan is touched, the
mirror is scanned over the entire range, and the successive period lengths of
the sinusoidal laser interferences are recorded and stored in the file in.ifg in
the ERASPEC subdirectory ...\tmp\.
During the scan, the elongated box next to Scan in the upper Maint menu
turns red, and the number of recorded data is displayed in this box. At the end
of the scan, this box turns green and shows the total number of data
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recorded.
At the same time, the drive moves the mirror back to the initial position. Only
after this initial position is reached, the laser may be switched off.
7) For the function activated by the L-Scan button, the laser has to be switched
on, and the mirror has to be in the initial position. If L-Scan is touched, the
mirror is scanned until L-Scan is pressed again. Then the scan stops, and the
last 128 data points of the laser intensity are recorded and stored in the file
in.ifg in the ERASPEC subdirectory ...\tmp\.
During the scan, the elongated box next to Scan in the upper Maint menu
turns red, and the number of recorded data is displayed in this box. At the end
of the scan, this box turns green and shows the total number of data
recorded.
At the same time, the drive moves the mirror back to the initial position. Only
after this initial position is reached, the laser may be switched off.
1) In the white box next to Pumpspeed, the voltage applied to the pump can be
entered or changed. Default setting is 180.
2) In the grey box next to I Board, a value is displayed that is proportional to the
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current power consumption. If nothing is switched on, this value is around 60
or lower. It can go up to 170 when components or subsystems, especially the
IR source, are switched on.
3) ERASPEC has a connector for a second fan. The voltage that is applied to
this fan connector can be varied continuously with the slider next to Fan.
However, there is no second fan, so this function has no meaning at the
moment.
4) ERASPEC is equipped with a hydrocarbon vapor detector. The current output
of this detector is shown in the grey box next to Gasdetector.
This feature will be activated only for ERASPECs delivered in fall 2011 or
later.
5) The button Valve2 activates a spare 12 volts switch to which nothing is
connected at this time. Therefore, this button serves no recognizable function.
6) If the button Beep is touched, beeper is activated for a brief period.
1) In the white box next to PL20, the path length of the standard gasoline cell
can be entered or changed.
2) In the white box next to PL100, the path length of the standard Diesel cell can
be entered or changed.
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3) In the white box next to use, it is possible to select which cell is used for a
measurement but only for the method “Gasoline”.
For the ERASPEC gasoline analyzer, the default setting is 20 µm. If this
parameter set to 100 µm, then the cell in position 100 (usually a 100µm cell)
is used.
4) In the white box next to Dens lim, it is possible to set the lower density limit
for the warning “Check Sample Filter”. If the density determined during a
measurement is lower than this Dens lim, then the warning “Check Sample
Filter” will be displayed, and the results will be calculated with a default
density value of 0.74 g/cm3 at the sample temperature. The default value for
Dens lim depends on the selected method. It is 0.75 (g/cm 3) for Diesel, 0.7
(g/cm3) for Jet Fuel, and 0.65 (g/cm3) for all other methods.
5) Alimit shows the absorbance limit for the Cluster Analysis. A lower value will
lead to less Cluster Analysis and more MLR results, and a higher Alimit value
will lead to more Cluster Analysis and less MLR results.
Default settings are: Alimit = 0.025 for Gasoline method
Alimit = 0.03 for Diesel method
Alimit = 0.03 for Jet method
Alimit = 0.025 for the Gasoline-MMT method
6) If some parameter has been changed in the Maint menu, this new setting
needs to be saved. Touch the button Save params to save the current values
of the parameters. A beep will sound to confirm.
7) Some values of parameters are stored in the EEPROM. If some of these
parameters have been changed in the Maint menu, this new setting needs to
be saved in the EEPROM. Touch the button Save in EE to save the current
values of these parameters. A beep will sound to confirm.
8) The format file is deleted by touching the button del ‘format’. The ERASPEC
will beep to indicate that the format file has been deleted.
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The following functions and readouts are available in this menu:
1) In the white box next to Position, the position of the currently open
autosampler inlet port is shown.
To move to the next port, touch the button next.
To move to any desired position, touch the white box next to Position and
enter the desired position with the pup-up keyboard.
2) The white box next to Offset Pos 1 shows the number of steps between the
Home position (where the valve Hall sensor is detected) and the port 1 open
position. This number is fixed for every autosampler but can changed (e.g. if
the valve needs to be replaced, this offset needs to be re-determined).
3) The grey box in the last line shows the current position of the valve drive, in
steps from the initial or Home position.
4) When the valve is in the Home position, the valve Hall sensor detects the
magnet of the valve drive. The white square left of Home is marked whenever
this magnet is detected by the Hall sensor.
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22.9 Parameter values
Most of the parameter values never change. They have values that are equal for all
ERASPEC Analyzers. The values of these parameters are:
Laser Kp 100
K 200
Lim -100; 100
IR R-Fix 175
Kp 40
Ki 150
Cell Speed 8
Gasoline: t-fill1 5
t-fill2 15
t-fill3 5
Diesel: t-fill1 8
t-fill2 20
t-fill3 7
Jet: t-fill1 6
t-fill2 16
t-fill3 8
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Some parameters, however, are determined individually for each ERASPEC and will
have different values for different analyzers. These parameters with the normal
range of values are:
Param PL20 18 – 23
PL100 85 – 115
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23. User level 6: The Tests menu
NEVER use user level 6 for the routine operation of the ERASPEC
analyzer!
The Tests menu and its functions are used only for green lasers. All red lasers
operate at a constant temperature of 28°C and do not need ageing.
The Tests menu is used to age new green lasers so that their emission will be stable
and to find the correct operating temperature Tset. It is accessible only if user level 6
is selected.
Enter the Tests menu by touching “Tests” in the top line of the display:
There are two test functions available: “Burn in” and “Auto set”.
The test function “Burn in” repeatedly cools the laser to 5°C and warms it up to 35°C.
This function runs for 12 hours, so it is necessary in most cases to leave this function
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running over night.
New lasers need to undergo this temperature program in order to stabilize the
output.
The test function “Auto set” starts by cooling the laser to 16°C. Then the laser is
switched on, and a scan is performed. After the scan, Amin and Amax (described in
the section “The submenu laser”) are written in the list on the right of the display,
together with the number of data points read during the respective scan in the
column Cnts (the normal number is 4708, if the number is smaller, then the scan
could not be completed).
Then the temperature is increased in steps of 1°C. At each step, a scan is
performed, and Amin and Amax are written in the list.
The last temperature is 35°C.
The current to the laser is the same as entered in the box “Cur” in the submenu laser
of the Maint menu at all temperatures, i.e. the current is not varied.
This program runs for roughly 15 minutes.
This function is used to find the best setting for the laser temperature Tset in the
submenu laser of the Maint menu so that Amin is as high as possible and Amax is
not much bigger than Amin.
At least Amin should be bigger than 30, and Amax smaller than 160.
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24. User level 6: Additional functions
The functions described in this section are accessible only if user level 6 is selected.
The user level can be changed as described in the section “Changing the user level”.
These functions are also active and available for all methods.
If user lever 6 is selected, additional functions are shown under the OPTIONS in the
Measure menu:
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The following additional functions are now available:
1) Filling:
Touching the button “Fill” executes the filling routine that is normally started at a
measurement to introduce the sample into the system.
This filling procedure can be stopped by pressing the “STOP” button.
If you unmark “auto” and leave the measurement menu, then “auto” is automatically
checked again. If you wish to switch the filling off, you then have to unmark it again
once you return to the measurement menu.
When a 10-position autosampler is connected to ERASPEC, then at the end of
measurement the Result menu is shown. Therefore, if you return to the Measure
menu, the “auto” is automatically checked again. If you wish to switch the filling off,
you then have to unmark it again.
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3) Laser adj.:
Touching the button “Laser adj.” will start the automatic procedure to optimize the
operating temperature and current for the laser. This procedure is described in detail
in the section “Automatic optimization of laser settings”.
ATTENTION: Please use the “Laser adj.” function only if a green laser is installed in
ERASPEC. If you are not sure about the laser type in your instrument, please go to
the menu Maint-IR.
If # Data and # ifg-pts are shown in red letters, then a red laser is installed, and the
“Laser adj.” function should not be used.
If # Data and # ifg-pts are shown in black or dark green letters, then a green laser is
installed, and the “Laser adj.” function can be used.
Touch the “Recalc” button. The ERASPEC shows a list of previous measurements:
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If you want to recalculate a reference spectrum, touch the box “.ifg” on the lower left:
Select “.rifg” from the dropdown list. The stored reference spectra are now shown:
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To go down the list to still older spectra, use the button to browse down line by
line, or the button to move down by one entire page. If the button is pressed
while the RUN key is pressed as well, you move down 100 spectra.
When the button is pressed while the RUN key is pressed as well, you go down
to the last page (the oldest 15 spectra), no matter which page is currently displayed.
Similarly, to move up to newer spectra, the button moves the list up by one
spectrum, and use the button to move up one entire page.
With the button you return to the first page (the newest 15 spectra), no matter
which page is currently displayed.
Select the reference spectrum that you want to recalculate by touching the name of
this spectrum. It will be marked by a bold box. Then press “Ok”.
While the reference spectrum is calculated, the Recalc button shows “Wait”:
After about 1 second, the calculation is finished, and the reference displayed below
the button “REFERENCE” shows now the date and time of the old reference that has
been selected and recalculated.
ATTENTION: Using this option, the result will be recalculated with the currently
loaded reference spectrum which may not the correct one for this measurement!
Touch the “Recalc” button. The ERASPEC shows a list of previous measurements:
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To go down the list to still older spectra, use the button to browse down line by
line, or the button to move down by one entire page. If the button is pressed
while the RUN key is pressed as well, you move down 100 spectra.
When the button is pressed while the RUN key is pressed as well, you go down
to the last page (the oldest 15 spectra), no matter which page is currently displayed.
Similarly, to move up to newer spectra, the button moves the list up by one
spectrum, and use the button to move up one entire page.
With the button you return to the first page (the newest 15 spectra), no matter
which page is currently displayed.
Select the result that you want to recalculate by touching the name of this result It
will be marked by a bold box. Then press “Ok”.
While the results are calculated, the Recalc button changes to “Wait”, and a status
message is displayed:
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After about 1 second, the calculation is finished, and the result list is displayed, in the
format used in the Measure menu:
The result can be added to a library with the button “Add” or printed on a connected
printer with the button “Print”.
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If RUN is pressed, the next regular measurement is started with the sample ID and
operator name currently written in the respective text boxes.
Now please select the desired libraries and press Ok. The libraries selected for the
virtual position 0 will be used only for the recalculation of old measurements.
It is also possible to recalculate the results of old measurements from the Result
menu, in a similar way as described above from the OPTIONS menu. However, in
the recalculation from the Result menu, the reference spectrum that belongs to the
measurement is automatically selected and used for the recalculation (in the
OPTIONS menu, the currently active reference is used).
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To perform a recalculation, go to the menu Result and select the result that shall be
recalculated from the list:
Then press “Recalc” to start the recalculation. After the recalculation, the results are
shown in the format that is used in the Result menu:
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Press OK to return to the Result menu.
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25. Shutdown procedures
Please insert the inlet tube into the solvent and, in the Measure menu, press
EMPTY. After the pump stops and the message “empty cell” disappears, remove the
inlet tube from the sample and press EMPTY again to remove the solvent from the
instrument.
Then power off by pushing the main power switch for 1 second at the front of the
analyzer. The red LED is illuminated until the instrument is off.
25.2 Reset
When the instrument does not respond anymore, a reset can be performed. Push
the main power switch for 5 to 7 seconds at the front of the analyzer. The red LED is
illuminated until the instrument is off. Push the main power again to boot the
instrument.
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26. Errors and warnings
Whenever a measurement cannot be finished correctly, the ERASPEC displays a
brief description of the error:
It may be an Error with a number (error code), or a brief text describing the error.
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and the display become dark, and then switch it on again. When the
instrument is ready, retry the measurement.
If you get the same error again, please contact your local dealer or eralytics.
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“Removing a data base” and “Deleting a data base”, or add data to it, as
described in the section “Adding a sample to a data base”.
Error 24: Error measuring the 2nd interferogram (only for Gasoline-MMT method)
For the Gasoline-MMT method, two interferograms using two different
absorption cells are measured. If an error occurs during the second data
scan, this message will be displayed.
Please retry the measurement.
If you get the same error, please switch the instrument off, wait until the LED
and the display become dark, and then switch it on again. When the
instrument is ready, retry the measurement.
If you get the same error again, please contact your local dealer or eralytics.
The following text strings may appear to alert the user about an irregularity that has
occurred during a measurement:
Cell Position:
If the time for the absorption cell to reach the correct position is unexpectedly
long, then this error is displayed.
If this error occurs, please switch the instrument off, wait until the LED and the
display become dark, and then switch it on again. When the instrument is
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ready, retry the measurement.
If you get the same error again, please contact your local dealer or eralytics.
Timeout error:
This error is displayed when the time for the IR source or the detector to reach
stable values before the measurement of the spectrum is initiated is
unexpectedly long.
If this error occurs, please retry the measurement.
If you get the same error, please switch the instrument off, wait until the LED
and the display become dark, and then switch it on again. When the
instrument is ready, retry the measurement.
If you get the same error again, probably the IR source needs to be replaced.
Please contact your local dealer or eralytics to order a new one and change it
as described in the section “Changing the IR source”.
Data Timeout:
The data packages during a measurement of the spectrum have to reach the
CPU within certain time intervals. If a data package is lost, then this time is
too long, resulting in this error message.
If the laser or the laser detector are defective so that no laser light is detected
at all this error is also shown.
If you get this error, please switch the instrument off, wait until the LED and
the display become dark, and then switch it on again. When the instrument is
ready, retry the measurement.
If you get the same error again, please contact your local dealer or eralytics.
Checksum error:
If data packages are corrupted during a measurement, the instrument will
recognize it, and then this error is displayed.
If this error occurs, please retry the measurement.
If you get the same error, please switch the instrument off, wait until the LED
and the display become dark, and then switch it on again. When the
instrument is ready, retry the measurement.
If you get the same error again, please contact your local dealer or eralytics.
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High CH Peak:
If a small leak develops somewhere in the sample system, then sample
evaporates into the spectrometer. Then a hydrocarbon (CH) line appears in
the reference spectrum. If this line becomes too strong, then this warning is
displayed after a reference measurement.
If this warning occurs, please contact your service representative or eralytics.
No reference:
If a measurement is started without previous measurement of a reference
spectrum, then the absorption cannot be calculated, and this error is shown.
Please perform a reference measurement, as described in the section
“Manual start of a reference spectrum measurement”.
No peak found:
In the raw data, the interferogram, there is a large peak that ERASPEC needs
to calculate the spectrum. If this peak cannot be found, then this warning
appears.
If this error occurs, please retry the measurement.
If you get the same error, please switch the instrument off, wait until the LED
and the display become dark, and then switch it on again. When the
instrument is ready, retry the measurement.
If you get the same error again, please contact your local dealer or eralytics.
Memory error:
If a USB memory stick is connected and mounted, but ERASPEC cannot write
data to it, then this warning appears. Please check if the memory stick has a
write protection and if it is locked. If so, please unmount and disconnect the
stick, unlock the write protection and try again.
If that does not help, please try a different USB memory stick.
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26.3 Warnings in the list of results
ERASPEC has a system or warnings if the results for results or calculated properties
are suspect, or if anything unusual happened during a measurement.
There are two ways to display a warning:
In the header, there is a bar colored pink with letters. Each letter stands for a specific
warning, if more than one letter appears, then more than one warning is given.
If the warning concerns a result or the Mahalanobis distance, then the respective line
is colored to draw the attention to the warning. In this case, a letter or symbol is
shown on the right side of the list that further specifies the type of warning:
Mahalanobis Distance too big: Lines Maha.Dist and Norm.Maha yellow, letter M
A defined lower limit is not met: Respective line red, Symbol <
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Vegetable Oil instead of FAME:
Line FAME red, symbol O (only in Diesel method)
Line OIL red
FAME found in Jet Fuel: Line FAME red, symbol F (only Jet method)
M: Mahalanobis Distance:
The Mahalanobis distance is bigger than the limit to identify an outlier. The
sample is not well represented in the library and has to be considered an
outlier (see the Section “Accuracy and outliers” for a discussion of the
Mahalanobis distance)
D: Dilution:
The measurement was taken with the activated Dilution option
U: Unknown Substance:
In some region of the spectrum, an absorption line exists that cannot be
explained by any of the substances that the ERASPEC
L: Limit:
The measured value for at least one parameter falls outside the limit that has
been defined for this parameter
I: Implausible Result:
At least parameter has an impossible value, for example a concentration is <
0% or > 100% (e.g. Olefins, Aromatics), or the sequence
IBP < T10 < T50 < T90 < FBP is violated by at least one of the distillation
points.
F: Inlet Filter:
The “Check inlet filter” warning was displayed during the measurement
G: General Warning:
This can only happen when an old interferogram is used to recalculate the
spectrum and results for that old measurement. It indicates that some values
are missing in the file header.
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The sample contains vegetable oil, not or not only FAME (Biodiesel)
If, during a measurement, the laser intensity is too low to use the laser signal to
control the spectrometer, then the settings of the laser temperature and / or laser
current need to be optimized in order to increase the laser intensity.
This is done automatically immediately after a “Data timeout” or a “Data size error”
occurred. This can happen after a normal measurement or after a reference
measurement.
The ERASPEC display then shows the “Optimizing Laser Settings” menu:
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Amin and Amax are the smallest and highest amplitude of the laser signal.
I is the current value of the laser current, T the current value of the laser
temperature.
The entire optimization procedure is fully automatic. Please wait until it is finished.
This may take up to 5 hours.
ERASPEC changes the laser current I and/or the laser temperature T. After each
change, a scan is performed. After each scan, the updated minimum and maximum
values of the laser amplitude, Amin and Amax, are displayed.
If the procedure finds a setting where Amin > 50 and Amax < 160 then the procedure
stops immediately, the new values of I and T are stored automatically, and the
display shows:
If the procedure does not find a setting for which Amin > 50 but does find one where
10 < Amin ≤ 50 and Amax < 160 after trying all allowed values for T and I, then it
also stops and stores the values if I and T for which Amin is highest.
If the procedure does not lead to a setting where the laser is working well enough,
i.e. Amin < 10 and /or Amax > 160, then the initial values for Tset and Cur are
restored, and the message “Laser optimization NOT successful” will be displayed.
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.
27.1 Description
The method Synthetic Fuel was developed upon request by a customer. It uses peak
areas in the IR spectrum that are shown by this special type of fuel.
The measurement procedure and sequence are almost the same as for the Diesel
and Jet Fuel methods.
However, for the Diesel and Jet Fuel methods, just one measurement using the
100µm absorption cell is performed, and from this spectrum, all the results are
calculated.
For the Synthetic Fuel method, it may be that some peaks are so high that the
spectrometer becomes saturated, leading to peak values that are too low. Therefore,
after the measurement using the 100µm cell, the ERASPEC automatically checks if
all peak heights are below a certain limit. If yes, the measurement is finished, if one
or more peaks are higher than the limit, then the 20µm cell is automatically moved
into the beam path, and a second measurement is performed using this thinner cell.
The peak areas of the peaks that were too high in the 100µm spectrum are then
calculated using the 20µm spectrum, and the resulting value is then corrected by the
factor by which the path lengths of the 100µm and 20µm cells differ to ensure
consistent results.
The parameters that are calculated from the IR spectrum for this method are
currently:
Aromatics concentration
Flash Point
Freezing Point
Smoke Point
Viscosity @ -20°C
Distillation properties (IBP, T10, T50, T90, FBP)
In the Measure menu, select the method Synthetic Fuel from the drop-down list in
the line FUEL TYPE:
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27.3 Performing a measurement
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This takes a few seconds.
If no peak is above the limit, then the pump is switched on to remove the sample,
and the results are calculated and shown on the display:
If at least one of the peaks is higher than the limit, then the 20µm cell is moved into
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the beam path, and a second measurement is started (since both cells are filled with
sample initially, it is not necessary to refill the sample).
After the second scan, the pump is switched on, and the results are calculated and
then displayed:
All other functions and features in the Measure and Result menus work as for the
Diesel method.
Please refer to the section Diesel Analyzer or Jet Fuel Analyzer for a description of
the respective menus.
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.
The method Diesel Cal was developed upon request by a customer and is a very
specialized method, allowing to check the total aromatics calibration of the Diesel
method with a calibration sample containing a known amount of Xylene (m-Xylene
and/or o-Xylene and/or p-Xylene).
The only result of a measurement is the aromatics concentration, calculated from the
sum of individual Xylene isomers.
In the Measure menu, select the method Diesel-Cal from the drop-down list in the
line FUEL TYPE:
The measurement procedure and sequence are the same as for the Diesel method.
Please proceed with a measurement as described in the section Diesel Analyzer.
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After the measurement is finished, the result list, containing only one parameter
Aromatics, is shown on the display:
All other functions and features in the Result and Measure menu work as for the
Diesel method.
Please refer to the section Diesel Fuel Analyzer for a description of the respective
menus.
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.
The method Fuel Methanol determines the methanol concentration for samples with
a high concentration of methanol, typically fuel methanol used to blend with
conventional gasoline. The concentration range covered by this method is 20 to 100
Vol%.
The only result of a measurement is the methanol concentration, calculated from the
peak height of a very weak methanol absorption peak. Since this peak is so weak, it
is not saturated even for pure methanol, allowing a measurement up to 100%
methanol.
In the Measure menu, please select the method Methanol Fuel from the drop-down
list in the line FUEL TYPE:
412
The measurement procedure and sequence are the same as for the Gasoline
method, with the only exception that no libraries are used for the calculation of the
methanol concentration, therefore the “LIBRARIES” button is not shown.
Please proceed with a measurement as described in the section Gasoline Analyzer.
After the measurement is finished, the result list, containing only the one parameter
Methanol, is shown on the display:
29.4 Calibration
To change the calibration, please go to the menu Result and press the button
Edit:Result:
413
Select the submenu Cal:
414
If the concentrations measured deviate from the expected methanol concentrations,
it is possible to change the value for the Gain and/or Offset parameters to modify the
calibration.
The calibration constant Cal1 from the formula above is the factory calibration
constant. It is shown in the submenu Adv:
It can be altered, too, but has the same effect as changing Gain. It is recommended
to leave Cal1 unchanged and use Gain if any correction to the calibration shall be
made.
All other functions and features in the Result and Measure menu work as for the
Gasoline method.
Please refer to the section Gasoline Analyzer for a description of the respective
menus.
415
.
Water 0.1 – 2 Vol% 0.01 Vol% 0.03 Vol% @ 0.5 Vol% 0.1 Vol%
Methanol 0.3 – 15 Vol% 0.05 Vol% 0.13 Vol% @ 0.4 Vol% 0.3 Vol%
In the Measure menu, please select the method Fuel Ethanol from the drop-down list
in the line FUEL TYPE:
416
30.4 Performing a measurement
The measurement procedure and sequence are the same as for the Gasoline
method, with the only exception that no libraries are used for the calculation of the
methanol concentration, therefore the “LIBRARIES” button is not shown.
Please proceed with a measurement as described in the section Gasoline Analyzer.
After the measurement is finished, the result list is shown on the display:
417
Press Print to print the result list on a connected printer or OK to return to the
Measure menu.
30.5 Calibration
To change the calibration, please go to the menu Result and press the button
Edit:Result:
418
Select the parameter whose calibration shall be adjusted:
In the submenu Adv, the calibration constant for the selected parameter is shown:
419
The concentration C of ethanol, water, and methanol is calculated using the formula
It is recommended to leave Cal1 unchanged and use Gain and/or Offset if any
correction to the calibration shall be made.
Man substances can be used as denaturant. Since the nature of the denaturant is
not known, it cannot be generally calibrated for. However, the denaturant
concentration can be calculated by
CDenaturant (Vol%) = (100 - CEthanol (Vol%)- CMethanol (Vol%)- CWater (Vol%)) * Gain +
Offset
Gain and Offset are shown in the submenu Cal for all substances:
420
Set Gain and/or offset to the desired value to correct the reading of the selected
parameter.
All other functions and features in the Result and Measure menu work as for the
Gasoline method.
Please refer to the section Gasoline Analyzer for a description of the respective
menus.
421
.
The Auto detect method needs an ERASPEC with at least the Gasoline and Diesel
module installed.
In this method, ERASPEC automatically determines if the fuel sample is gasoline or
diesel or, if also the Jet Fuel module is activated, Jet fuel.
It then jumps to the selected module (Gasoline, Diesel, or Jet) and performs the
analysis in exactly the same way as if the respective module would have been
selected manually.
In the Measure menu, please select the method Methanol Fuel from the drop-down
list in the line FUEL TYPE:
The libraries that shall be used for the different fuel types have to be selected in the
422
respective methods Gasoline, Diesel, and/or Jet Fuel. The “LIBRARIES” button is
therefore not shown in the Auto detect method.
To start a measurement, enter sample ID and operator, as usual, and put the inlet
tube in the sample container and press RUN. Since both cells need to be filled
properly, the filling process takes a few seconds longer than in the Gasoline or
Diesel methods.
The measurement sequence is the same as described for the Gasoline or Diesel
methods.
When the calculations are finished, the result list is shown with the correct
parameter. On the upper left, the sample type selected by ERASPEC is shown in
red:
If the Diesel and Jet Fuel methods are active, then if Diesel was selected by
ERASPEC, the result list has a button that allows a quick recalculation of the results
in the Jet method:
423
Similarly, if Jet was selected, the same button allows recalculation with the Diesel
method.
Press OK to exit the result list. You will be back in the measure menu of the Auto
detect method:
424
31.4 Viewing old results from the Result memory
The results obtained in the Auto detect module are stored in the Result menu of the
respective methods. In Auto detect, the Result menu is not accessible.
To view or print them or add them to a library, please change to the Result menu of
the respective method.
Some functions in the respective methods are not accessible in the Auto detect
method. They need to be defined, entered or checked in the respective methods.
All other functions and features in the Measure menu work as for the Gasoline,
Diesel or Jet Fuel method.
Please refer to the sections describing these methods for a description of the
respective menus and functions.
425
.
The FAME in Jet Fuel method is developed to detect FAME in Jet Fuel and other
fuels or hydrocarbons with a detection limit of 100 mg/kg.
For this method, a special absorption cell with a long path length is required.
Additionally, this cell can be equipped with a 20µm or a 100µm path length cell.
Depending on the cell, some methods are not available together with the FAME in
Jet method.
The only result of a measurement is the FAME concentration in the sample, in the
range 100 to 2000 mg/kg.
If the FAME concentration is higher, please use the Diesel method to determine the
FAME concentration in the sample.
In the Measure menu, please select the method FAME in JetFuel from the drop-
down list in the line FUEL TYPE:
426
32.3 Performing a measurement
To start a measurement, enter sample ID and operator, as usual, and put the inlet
tube in the sample container and press RUN. Since both cells need to be filled
properly, the filling process takes a few seconds longer than for other methods, and
about 20 to 25ml of sample are drawn into the instrument for one measurement.
The measurement sequence is the same as described for the Gasoline or Diesel
methods.
When the calculations are finished, the result list is shown:
If FAME was found in the sample, the result line is marked in red to alert the user:
427
The result can be printed, as usual, with the button “print”.
The spectrum of pure, FAME-free Jet fuel in the region of the FAME peak can be
slightly different, depending on the composition of and impurities in the Jet fuel. If
these variations are not properly taken into account then the measurement can give
false positives or negatives.
To avoid this problem ERSPEC has a factory data base which contains the spectra
of 130 different jet fuels, collected from many different countries.
When a measurement is performed, ERASPEC models the spectrum of the sample
around the FAME peak with the spectra of Jet fuels in the library and subtracts this
modeled background before the FAME peak region is analyzed. This leads to a
significant improvement of the accuracy of the FAME determination.
If, however, a pure Jet fuel is measured which is known to contain no FAME, and
ERASPEC gives a result >100mg/kg for FAME, then this spectrum has an unusual
background that cannot be modeled accurately. In such a case, please add the
spectrum of this FAME-free Jet fuel to the library.
This can be done any time from the Result menu by marking the spectrum that shall
be added (touching the name which is then marked green) and pressing the “Add to
Lib” button.
The contents of the library can be viewed by pressing the button “LIBRARIES” in the
measure menu:
428
To delete an unwanted spectrum, touch its name to mark it green, then touch the
“Delete Line” button:
429
32.5 Calibration, limits, and units
The FAME in Jet Fuel measurement is factory calibrated. If it is, however, necessary
to change or correct the calibration, please go to the menu Result, press the button
Edit:Result and touch the parameter FAME in Jet:
In the submenu Adv, the calibration constant for the selected parameter is shown:
430
The concentration C FAME is calculated using the formula
It is recommended to leave Cal1 unchanged and use Gain and/or Offset if any
correction to the calibration shall be made.
431
Set Gain and/or offset to the desired value to correct the reading of FAME
concentration.
The lower detection limit for FAME in Jet Fuel is 100 mg/kg. If FAME is detected at
all, then the FAME parameter will be marked red in the result screen. If this kind of
warning shall be shown only for higher concentrations, then please touch Limit:
432
Enter the desired threshold concentration in the box “Warning if >”.
The default unit for the FAME concentration is mg/kg. It is possible to use mg/l
instead.
Go to the submenu Name:
433
In the box unit, enter –mg/l. Then all results will be displayed in mg/l FAME.
All other functions and features work as for the Gasoline, Diesel or Jet Fuel method.
Please refer to the sections describing these methods for a description of the
respective menus and functions.
434
.
The concentrations of pure substances, like Benzene, Toluene etc., will be shown
correctly right from the start.
To use this method, select the method “Gasoline-MMT” from the drop-down list
FUEL TYPE in the Measure menu:
If a measurement is started, the measurement sequence will be the same as for the
Gasoline method described so far in this manual.
All functions, operations, menus, parameters and formats are the same as for the
normal gasoline method. Please refer to the Section “Gasoline Analyzer”.
However, the methods Gasoline and Naphta are internally strictly separated, so that
435
the results memory, libraries, results.txt files and other settings and files are NOT
shared.
436
.
34. Maintenance
34.1 Changing the inlet filter
When the instrument during the filling procedure draws in the liquid very slowly, or if
the warning “CHECK INLET FILTER” appears, or if the values for the density are too
low, then the inlet filter must be exchanged.
The inlet filter is a sintered metal disc. From early 2013 on, the filter has a conical tip
on the bottom side. The conical tip is the bottom side! Never install such a filter with
the tip facing upwards!
Remove the sampling tube and unscrew the metal filter holder (turn it anticlockwise).
The filter can be exchanged now. Screw the filter holder back in.
ATTENTION: Do not insert a used filter upside down into the inlet. Residual dirt
or dust will be washed out and will block the absorption cell! The bottom side
is the side with the conical tip (for filters delivered after Q1/2013)!
filter
holder
437
the absorption cell and density meter.
Please insert the inlet tube into the solvent and, in the Measure menu, press
EMPTY. After the pump stops and the message “empty cell” disappears, remove the
inlet tube from the sample and press EMPTY again to remove the solvent from the
instrument.
438
Screws to open the analyzer
Audio connecors
Ethernet connector
RS 232 interface
Inside the ERASPEC, in the right side, there are two electronic boards. On the upper
board, there is a big connector into which two thicker cables are screwed:
Please loosen both screws on this connector (but do not remove them from the
439
connector) and take out the two cables. Feed the cables through the hole in the side
panel between the two electronic boards.
Inside the ERASPEC, you will also notice a big, black, almost quadratic box, the
spectrometer.
The IR source is located in the left rear corner, in the separate housing with a heat
sink. To the left, there is a hollow screw through which the two connecting cables of
the IR source are fed. Please remember how far this screw extends from the IR
source housing.
Unscrew this hollow screw by hand (no tools are needed) until it is completely
separated from the IR source housing. Then pull on the two cables to remove the IR
source from IR source housing.
Between the hollow screw and the IR source, there is a black O-ring.
Remove this hollow screw and the O-ring from the old IR source. Put the O-ring and
then the hollow screw on the new IR source, just as they were on the old IR source.
Slide the new IR source in the housing and tighten the hollow screw, again by hand.
Make sure that the hollow screw does not extend more than before the old IR source
440
was removed.
Then run the two connecting cables through the hole on the side panel between the
two boards, where they ran before. Then insert the cables into the connector and
tighten the two screws. Polarity is not important, it will always work.
Make sure that the IR source cable runs between the fan and the IR source housing
or the spectrometer.
On the power board, towards the rear panel, there is a cable clip. Run the IR source
cables through this clip so that they are out of the way when the case is put back.
Then the housing has to be put back. For the reinstallation of the housing put the left
housing locker in the upright position and the right one in the downright position.
left locker
right locker
Carefully move the opening on the left and right hand side into the groove of the
aligning rail. Take care that no wire is caught by the little elbow at the back of the
housing.
441
elbow
aligning rail
Push the housing back as far as possible. Turn the locking screws clock wise until
the housing pulled back that it is aligned with the end of the aligning rail.
Then switch on the ERASPEC. If, after start up, the reference spectrum is not
measured automatically, measure a reference spectrum manually, as described in
the section “Manual start of a reference spectrum measurement”.
If the warning “CHECK INLET FILTER” appears repeatedly, although the inlet filter
has been replaced, then the tube of the peristaltic pump needs to be replaced.
442
Screws to open the analyzer
Audio connecors
Ethernet connector
RS 232 interface
The pump is mounted to the bottom of the ERASPEC, just left of the metal panel
where the electronic boards are mounted:
443
The red, transparent cap of the pump must be taken away. Grab it with two fingers
and pull the top off the pump:
The black tube that was inside the pump is connected on both sides to a yellow tube
with two olive fittings. All tubes are secured to the fitting with cable straps. On the
right side (pump inlet side), there is additionally a white plastic hose clip:
444
The right side of the pump (inlet) is connected to a short yellow tube leading to the
sample inlet.
The left side of the pump (outlet) is connected to a longer yellow tube leading to the
bottom of the spectrometer (the upper black box).
Cut the cable straps that hold the black tube, on both sides of the black tube. Then
take the black tube off the fitting, again on both sides:
Then put the hose clip onto the right side of the new tube.
445
Connect the side with the hose clip to the yellow tube leading to the inlet.
Connect the other side of the new black tube to the yellow tube leading to the
spectrometer.
On both sides, secure the new black tube on the fitting with the supplied cable
straps. Make sure that the cable straps sit as closely as possible to the rim of the
plastic fitting that connects the two tubes:
Then put the black tube back into the pump housing.
Make sure that the side with the hose clip is on the right (the inlet side)!
Then put back the rotor so that the tube is between the rear and front discs of the
rotor (not squeezed by these discs but only by the one of the two white rollers in
between):
446
Verify the correct installation, it should look like this, with the hose clip on the right
side:
Then reinstall the red cap. Put it on from the front, centered, so that the axis of the
rotor slides into the center bearing of the cap:
447
Then press the cap onto the pump until is snaps in and sits tightly on the pump.
Please verify that the tubes are centered in the top holes of the pump and are not
squeezed somewhere between the read cap and the rear pump housing!
Then the housing has to be put back. For the reinstallation of the housing put the left
housing locker in the upright position and the right one in the downright position.
left locker
right locker
Carefully move the opening on the left and right hand side into the groove of the
aligning rail. Take care that no wire is caught by the little elbow at the back of the
housing.
448
elbow
aligning rail
Push the housing back as far as possible. Turn the locking screws clock wise until
the housing pulled back that it is aligned with the end of the aligning rail.
449
35. Supplies reorder information
• ES01 ERASPEC FTIR analyzer
Accessories
EV01-A012 RS232 serial interface cable
EV01-A013 Ethernet cable for data exchange via Internet
EV01-A014 Gas tight syringe 10 ml
EV01-A015 Head set
EV01-A016 USB memory-stick
EV01-A017 DC-adaptor for +12 V vehicle battery operations
EV01-A018 Laser printer 115V
EV01-A019 Laser printer 230V
EV01-A020 Compact printer 115V
EV01-A021 Compact printer 230V
EV01-A022 Laboratory keyboard (US) & mouse
EV01-A023 Laboratory keyboard (EU) & mouse
EV01-A024 Installation costs per day excl. costs for flight and accommodation
ES01-A025 Carrying case for safe transportation and storing of the ERASPEC
To re-order any of these items, please contact your supplier or eralytics GmbH.
450
36. Software update
New software versions are supplied by eralytics free of charge for the lifetime of the
ERASPEC.
New software is an update file whose name contains information about the
instrument type, software version and date. This update file can be downloaded from
the internet, the link will be sent by e-mail. This file can simply be loaded to the
ERASPEC from a connected USB memory stick.
Two versions of ERASPEC exist which have different displays, touchscreens, IPC´s
and front panel design. The update procedure and the update file are different.
If you are not sure whether your ERASPEC belongs to the newer or older version,
please go to the System menu and check the software version which is the number
below “Software V.” in the middle upper display.
If your ERASPEC has the older system it will look like this:
451
It was probably delivered in 2012 or before. The software version will be 1xx (3
digits). Please update the ERASPEC as described in the section 32.1.
If your ERASPEC has the newer system it will look like this:
452
It was probably delivered in 2013 or later. The software version will be 71xx (4
digits). Please update the ERASPEC as described in the section 32.2.
453
36.1 ERASPEC with old IPC/Display (delivered in 2012 or before)
The update file for these ERASPECs is called “eraspec1xx.tgz”, where 1xx is the
software version.
Please copy this update file to the directory ..\erasoft\eraspec\ of the USB memory
stick. If no such directory exists, please create one.
Connect the USB memory stick to one USB connectors on the rear panel.
Switch on the ERASPEC. The new software will automatically be loaded and
programmed. Please wait until the programming and the start-up procedure
(including measurement of the reference) are finished.
Please wait until the ERASPEC is ready for measurements. Then remove the
memory stick.
You can verify the successful upload of the new software in the menu System. In the
first line, it will show the new software version in the box "Software V." and the
software version for the three microcontrollers in the box "Micros V.".
Connect the USB memory stick to one of the two bottom USB connectors on the rear
panel (Please do NOT use the upper USB connector!).
Switch on the ERASPEC. The new software will automatically be loaded and
programmed. Please wait until the programming and the start-up procedure
(including measurement of the reference) are finished.
Please wait until the ERASPEC is ready for measurements. Then remove the
memory stick.
You can verify the successful upload of the new software in the menu System. In the
first line, it will show the new software version in the box "Software V." and the
software version for the three microcontrollers in the box "Micros V.".
454
37. Operation with the 10 position autosampler
ERASPEC can be equipped with a 10 position autosampler for faster sample
throughput. The software version needs to be 149 or higher.
If an autosampler is installed, the ERASPEC goes through the usual start-up routine
and measures a reference spectrum. The display then shows
The display shows a list with one line for each sampler position in which the sample
name and libraries used can be separately defined for each sample.
The left column in grey shows the 10 lines, each number corresponds to the number
at the respective inlet ports on the autosampler.
In one of these lines, SP is shown. This indicates the current position (if SP appears
in the first line, the inlet port #1 is connected etc.). The sampler can be put to a
different position by touching the grey box in the line of the desired port position:
455
Measurements can be made for any number of samples, 1 or more, up to 10.
The ports from which samples are connected have to be defined by clicking the
respective positions in the second column “ON”. The ports which are activated are
marked yellow and will be used for the next measurements:
456
Change the sample IDs of the samples to be measured by clicking on the box
Sample in the respective lines. The sample ID can be selected from the drop down
list if the box with appears when the grey down arrow is touched:
Or the sample ID can be entered by touching the white box and entering the desired
457
ID with the pop-up keyboard.
The libraries can be individually selected for each sample. Touch the box • in the
column Libs in the line of the respective sample to access the library selection menu:
If the same libraries shall be used for several or all samples, a quicker way to define
this is by using the Cpy (for Copy) key in the libraries menu.
The box next to Cpy shows the position for which the libraries are selected now.
When the Cpy key is pressed, the position jumps one number up and copies the
library selection from the previous position:
458
When the Cpy key is pressed several times, then the same library selection will be
copied for the successive positions.
Then connect the filling tubes to the inlet ports which are selected for the
measurement and put them into the respective sample containers:
459
Then press RUN to start the measurement. The measurement proceeds through the
usual stages:
After the measurement of the first sample is complete, the next selected port position
is opened, and the next sample is measured.
460
After all samples connected to the selected positions have been measured,
ERASPEC asks to remove the sample tubes from the samples:
Please remove all sample tubes from the sample containers, then press Ok. After
the last measurement has been finished, the pump will start, and the autosampler
moves through all positions that were active during the measurement to remove the
remaining sample from the inlet tubes and ports. Then it moves to position 10 and
performs the normal EMPTY routine.
If the removal of the sample tubes is impractical, this EMPTY routine can be
canceled by clicking on Cancel.
However, in order to avoid contamination of the following samples, it is
recommended not to cancel the routine but to remove the tubes and confirm with Ok.
After all measurements have been finished, the display jumps to the Result menu:
461
It is now possible to view and print the results or add samples to a library as usual.
The displays shown above are for the Gasoline method. The operation with
autosampler for all other method is analogous to what is described above.
If the VOC calculation is active, then the display shows an additional column, VOC:
462
Using this column, the parameters that need to be defined for the VOC and VOC
reduction calculations can be entered individually for each sample.
Touch the box • in the column VOC in the line of the respective sample. The VOC
parameter menu is shown in which the parameters can now be entered and
selected:
463
In this way, the VOC parameters can be defined for each sample individually.
If the same or similar parameters shall be used for several or all samples, a quicker
way to define them is by using the Cpy (for Copy) key in the VOC parameters menu.
The box next to Cpy shows the position for which the parameters are defined now.
When the Cpy key is pressed, the position jumps one number up and copies the
parameter values from the previous position:
When the Cpy key is pressed several times, then the same parameter values will be
copied for the successive positions.
When the autosampler is connected to ERASPEC, the position from which the
FAME calibration samples will be filled needs to be selected before entering the
FAME Cal menu. Please switch off all positions except the one used to fill the
calibration samples:
464
Then enter the FAME Cal menu.
This FAME calibration menu is described in the section “FAME (Biodiesel)
calibration”.
Every inlet port of the autosampler contains a metal sinter filter to prevent particles to
enter and block the system.
To exchange an inlet filter unscrew the steel nut at the respective port, then the filter
is accessible and can be replaced.
If the ERASPEC detects that the density meter is not completely filled at one or more
positions, then it indicates the position(s) at which the inlet filter should be replaced:
465
466
38. History of software versions (Customer Changelog)
467
Cyrillic IBM866, CP1251 and KOI8-R character sets).
* It is possible to delete the format file in the submenu Misc of the Maint menu.
* New Test menu “Tests” used to age lasers and to find the best operating
temperature Tset.
________________________________________________________________
468
30 for Cetane number and Index and distillation points
20 for Aromatics
4 for PNA and Cetane Improver
* Editor for library added that makes it possible to check the values of properties
entered in a library and to correct the values if necessary
* In the result list that is shown directly after a measurement, a “Print” button for
direct printout and an “Add” button to add the just measured sample to a library are
added (it is not necessary any more to switch to the Result menu for these functions)
* Averaging several scans for one measurement is possible
* ERASPEC can be connected to a PC or Network for automatic data transfer to a
LIMS, and option files can be used
_______________________________________________________________
* Spectra can be drawn and viewed on the display, up to 4 spectra can be overlaid in
graphics
* New parameter Concentration of Di-Olefins
* New parameter Concentration of DHCP (Dicyclopentadiene)
* Printer files for A4 and B4 format as standard
* Printer files for compact printers (paper width 24 or 40 characters) as standard
* Possibility to change the background color of the display
* New functions in the Maint menu (Lmax in Laser, Imax and Imin in Cell)
* New method Jet Fuel Analysis
_______________________________________________________________
* New method Gasoline-MMT (normal gasoline analysis with the gasoline cell, MMT
determination using the Diesel cell)
* Editor for the “result.txt” file
* Box to enter the method code for additional modules or methods in System-
Passwd
_______________________________________________________________
469
Version: Software version 142
Manual ERASPEC_F-m-8011
* Driveability Index DI: displayed in temperature unit that was set in System-General
(°F or °C)
* Select Measurement type (gasoline, Diesel, …) already in User Level 2 or higher
possible
* SELECT LIBRARIES Menu accessible already in User Level 2 or higher
* Delete and Edit libraries only accessible in User Level 4 or higher
* 2 new substances: Dimethoxymethane and Dimethylcarbonate (Oxygenates)
* Warnings displayed as short text, not error # xx
* New warning High CH Peak
* Automatic procedure to set laser operating temperature and/or current after “Data
Size Error” and “Data Timeout Error”
_______________________________________________________________
470
* MMT calculation in the method Gasoline like in the method Gasoline-MMT
____________________________________________________________
471
Old versions: Software version 147
Manual ERASPEC_F-m-8014
472
Old versions: Software version 155
Manual ERASPEC_F-m-8019
* New method Methanol Fuel (Methanol concentration from 20 to 100 Vol%)
* Possible error reading the cell position corrected
______________________________________________________________
473
displayed
* Beeper activated for all “Save” buttons (also Density calibration and parameter
save in Maint-Params)
* Result file “result.txt”: Format defined by activated codepage (e.g. KOI8-R for
Russian)
* If Cluster Analysis was used for calculation (CA): Possibility to display the samples
found in the data base from the result list
* New parameter “Anilines”: Sum of Anilin and n-Methylanilin
* For ERASPEC manufactured November 201o or later: If temperature inside the
ERASPEC is higher than 35°C then the large fan on the rear panel is activated
instead of the small fan below the IR source
* Improved calculation of Di-Olefins
* If alcohols are found: Cross check with OH peak if alcohols are present
________________________________________________________________
Old versions: -
* First software for new IPC/Display, functionality identical to SW version 161
474
* Temporary files (raw data in.ifg, ref.ifg, and spectra in *.spc) will be stored on a
connected USB memory stick in directory \results\eraspec\tmp\
* Methods EN238 and EN14078: Dilution factor can be displayed in Result menu
* Spectrum graphics: Zoom for both x any y axis (wavenumber and absorbance)
independently / wavenumber scale up to 4000 cm -1
* Separate peak vector PeakVec for MLR and Cluster Analysis (peaks can be
removed also from Cluster Analysis)
* New method for Total Anilines in the Gasoline module
* Improved background correction for MMT and CMT in the Gasoline and Gasoline-
MMT modules
* Parameter Benzene added to Diesel module
* Parameter Dimethoxymethane (Methylal) added to Diesel module
* LIBRARIES menu was not accessible after start-up: Bug fixed
* Reference measurement starts when touching button REFERENCE also for old
IPC/Display/Design
* Menu Test, Function Auto set: Temperature range expanded to 16 to 35 °C
_______________________________________________________________
475
Manual ERASPEC_F-m-8031
* New column in library for Ester concentration in Gasoline
* Determination of N,N-Dimethylaniline added to Gasoline methods
* possibility to define different sets of libraries which can be selected quickly
(Function LibSet)
* Bug in SW version 166 fixed (did not print result)
______________________________________________________________
476
Manual ERASPEC_F-m-8035
* CG method improved
477
* Enable use of 10-position autosampler together with barcode reader
* New format of library
478
Old versions: Software version 7178 / 178
Manual ERASPEC_F-m-8039
* Slight improvement of Gasoline-CG module
* New Default-PeakVec for Diesel Type 2 MLR
479