Rotor-based MW digestion Archive

The Fluid Characterization Laboratory at DTU Offshore primarily focuses on research relating to sustainable energy security with a specific focus on subsurface applications. Before microwave technology was introduced, digestion was performed using traditional hot-plate methods leading to several limitations like low digestion efficiency, great exposure to acid fumes and higher contamination risk from the external environment. This led to incomplete digestion and an underestimation of elemental content. Thanks to ETHOS microwave digestion system they transformed sample prep from a complex and safety-concerned process into a controlled, reproducible, and efficient workflow. The ability to achieve high temperatures under pressure significantly enhanced digestion efficiency, particularly for heterogeneous and carbon-containing samples.

Nutrilab has existed for more than 60 years as the quality assurance laboratory of the Schouten Group, which celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2018. Becoming an independent commercial laboratory in 1990, Nutrilab specializes in protecting quality and ensuring the safety of an increasingly global food supply chain. “We needed new technologies able to handle the growth in sample workload and to get complete digestion in a safe lab environment.” “In 2015, we invested in an ETHOS UP microwave digestion system from Milestone to help reduce our sample prep bottleneck. This system increased the sample digestion capacity of our laboratory by 50%, while reducing costs, and significantly improving digestion quality.”