24
General Procedure
In the following procedure, D and M refer to the marks on the ends
of the collector tube.
D means 'distillation’ or 'discarded' end and M
means 'measuring' end. See Figure 2 on page 13.
1. Set the controller to temperature specified in method. Allow the
heater block to warm up. This will take about 40 minutes.
2. With the
M end up, put collector tubes for the samples into the
collector tube rack. When using the Pre-filled collector tubes,
re-seal the foil pack after removing the tubes if there are any
left. When using the User-Fill collector tubes, fill and cap the
tubes before using; see section 3.1 on page 11.
3. Put the sample tubes into the sample tube rack; up to 21 for
one block. Pipet 6.0 mL of aqueous sample into each sample
tube with an automatic pipet or weigh 6.0 grams of sample on a
balance (Figure 3).
a. When distilling solids, contaminated soils or sludge, place
0.5 g of sample, then 5.5 mL of deionized water into the
sample tube.
4. In order to release the analyte from the matrix, it may be
necessary to add a releasing solution. The releasing solution is
added via a repipetor at a volume that is specified in the Micro
Dist method (Figure 4).
Figure 3 Placing Sample in Tubes