Why consider automation – even for simple titrations
Apr 27, 2020
Article
If you are reading this blog post, you are most likely already familiar with the general principles of potentiometric titration. Although chromatographic and spectroscopic methods are preferred in many labs, titration is still the method for analysis of all kinds of sample types. Titration stands apart from other techniques because it is an absolute method (also known as a primary method). Whenever the analyte reacts in a known stoichiometric way with another reagent, titration is the method of choice, not only for official norms and standards.
Nowadays, titration is far more modern than it was back when I was a student. At that time we still used glass burets and color indicators, and suffered from inconsistent results. Although the automatic addition of the titrant and the recognition of the equivalence point are now performed by the titrator itself in most labs, there are still many manual steps that can go wrong and lead to unreliable results.
How to avoid titration errors in your lab
If the used titrator is a stand-alone type, the analysis becomes a full-time job for the lab technician. Not only must the sample be prepared, the titration itself has to be started after the sensor and buret tip have been placed in the sample solution. If using a titrator, the addition of the titrant as well as evaluation and calculation of the results will be done automatically. However, cleaning after each finished determination and preparation for the next sample still remains the task of the lab technician. In many cases, the titration does not take much longer than 3–5 minutes. Due to this short period, there are not many other tasks which can be completed by the technician during the analysis time.
Using a fully automated titration system results in not only more efficient analyses, but achieves better and even more reproducible ones at the same time.
Save valuable time
Time savings is one of the biggest benefits of using automation. To get a better idea about the general amount of time that can be saved, have a closer look at this diagram. You can already see how many steps can be done by an automated titration system, leaving analysts more time for other tasks.