# subboiling distillation

The Albhades laboratory offers multidisciplinary analysis in the healthcare field (pharmaceutical, cosmetics and medical instrumentation. The laboratory has been growing rapidly in the last few years with many samples analyzed every day. That’s why the lab has been equipped with a Milestone ultraWAVE microwave digestion system and an ICP-MS respectively for sample preparation and trace metal analysis. Since these techniques require the use of high purity acids, the lab has decided to invest in buying the Milestone “Clean Chemistry” products. They chose the subCLEAN, which allows the internal production of their own ultra-pure acid.

Empresa Portuguesa das Águas Livres (EPAL) supplies water to approximately three million people. EPAL purchased an ICP-MS to perform trace metals analysis of water. This analysis could not be done with common analytical commercial concentrated nitric acid. As a result, the lab had to purchase expensive high-purity commercial nitric acid. The laboratory purchased Milestone’s duoPUR sub-boiling distillation system to produce their own high purity nitric acid at a dramatically reduced cost.

New paper publication titled "Evaluation of recycle and reuse of nitric acid from sample digests by sub-boiling distillation" has just been published on Microchemical Journal. In short, the article shows that acid digestion waste can be recycled (through a sub-boiling purification process) and reused, without compromising the quality of the analytical results, with clear benefits in costs and for the environmental health.

The Mediterranean Institute of Advanced Studies (IMEDEA) and the Marine Science Institute of Andalusía (ICMAN) are prestigious research centers belonging to CSIC (Higher Council for Scientific Research) closely linked to the University of the Balearic Islands and the University of Cadiz. The study of trace elements to ambient levels requires the use of high purity acid. Moreover, all the material used in the preparation of samples and subsequent analysis must be cleaned thoroughly with high purity concentrated acid. Therefore, buying high-quality acids is essential and it implicates high costs for the lab. Buying a sub-boiling distillation system, subPUR, and steam cleaning system, traceCLEAN, allowed the laboratory to produce their own high-purity acids and increased the overall efficiency of the cleaning materials being used. Furthermore, they led to a dramatic cost reduction and operation time.

The Keck Lab at Oregon State University, is a world-class teaching and research analytical facility that specializes in the development, application, and training in state-ofthe- art, plasma-based elemental and isotopic analysis techniques for the earth, ocean, and other sciences. To keep up with the ever-shifting needs of students and researchers that utilize this core facility, it is imperative that the lab is able to quickly produce suffi cient quantities of ultra-pure HCI and HNO3 to enable their trace metals research. Milestone’s duoPUR is the only solution that enables Keck Lab at Oregon State University to keep pace with the ultra-pure acid demands of its students and researchers. The duoPUR’s unique dual quartz still design has enabled Keck Lab to quickly purify the HCI and HNO3 acids required without disrupting the lab’s overall workflow.