Blog

How to Scale-Up Organic Sample Preparation

May 19, 2025

Scaling up organic sample preparation — from lab-scale methods to larger batch or continuous processing — presents both technical and operational challenges. In industries such as environmental testing, food and beverage, or pharmaceuticals, maintaining data integrity while increasing throughput is crucial. Effective scale-up is not simply a matter of using larger equipment; it requires thoughtful adjustments to extraction methods, mixing, digestion, evaporation, and automation. ATS-Scientific offers a full spectrum of scalable sample preparation solutions, helping laboratories meet the demand for volume without compromising quality or compliance.

Why Scale-Up Matters

As labs move from R&D or quality control environments to pilot-scale production or routine high-throughput testing, scaling up sample prep becomes essential. However, larger batch sizes can introduce new variables—such as uneven heating, poor homogenization, solvent loss, or lower extraction efficiency. By anticipating and addressing these issues, labs can reduce method variability, improve reproducibility, and stay aligned with regulatory standards.

Key Considerations When Scaling

Nonlinear Process Effects: Doubling the sample size doesn’t always mean doubling the output. Variables like solvent penetration, temperature distribution, and reaction kinetics behave differently at scale. Homogeneity and reproducibility can suffer if scale-up isn’t engineered carefully.
Equipment Geometry and Design: Larger vessels or extraction chambers have different surface-area-to-volume ratios, which can affect heat transfer and mixing. ATS-Scientific’s sample prep instruments, including high-capacity homogenizers and solvent extractors, are designed to maintain efficiency and consistency across a range of scales.
Safety and Environmental Control: Handling greater volumes of solvents or potentially hazardous samples increases the importance of closed systems, pressure control, and solvent recovery. ATS offers automated digestion and distillation systems with integrated safety features and exhaust management.

Scalable Sample Preparation Solutions from ATS

Bulk Homogenization and Grinding: Consistent particle size is key to representative sampling and efficient extraction. ATS provides cryogenic and high-capacity mills for homogenizing tough or temperature-sensitive samples at scale.
High-Throughput Solvent Extraction: Accelerated Solvent Extraction (ASE) and automated Soxhlet systems enable fast, repeatable extraction of analytes from complex matrices. ATS’s extractor units are designed for batch processing with programmable parameters, making them ideal for scaling standard AOAC or EPA methods.
Automated Digestion and Distillation: For analyses requiring protein, nitrogen, or fiber quantification, ATS offers digestion units with multiple-sample handling capabilities, such as 6- or 20-place digesters, along with matching distillation systems. These systems ensure uniform heating and reduce manual error, key for accurate Kjeldahl or sulfur analysis.
Evaporation and Concentration: Large-capacity rotary evaporators and vacuum concentrators are essential when scaling up extraction workflows. ATS provides solvent recovery solutions that maintain safety and minimize energy use while preserving analyte integrity.

Automation and Workflow Integration

Automation plays a critical role in ensuring consistency and reducing hands-on time as sample volumes increase. ATS instruments support autosamplers, programmable protocols, barcode tracking, and LIMS integration to streamline scaled-up workflows. Many systems feature built-in temperature, pressure, and solvent flow monitoring to ensure that scaled protocols stay within validated ranges.

Furthermore, ATS’s instrumentation complies with key standards (AOAC, EPA, ISO), which supports method transferability from lab to production environments.

Maintaining Analytical Quality at Scale

Method Validation: Scaled-up methods should be validated against their lab-scale counterparts using certified reference materials and recovery testing. Consistency in extraction efficiency, analyte recovery, and reproducibility must be demonstrated to maintain analytical integrity.
Quality Assurance and Regulatory Compliance: Implementing QC checkpoints throughout the sample prep process—such as blanks, spikes, and duplicates—helps identify deviations early. ATS provides guidance on instrument maintenance and calibration routines to ensure long-term reliability.
Documentation and Traceability: With increasing sample loads, digital documentation becomes even more important. ATS’s data systems support audit-ready recordkeeping, method traceability, and automated reporting to support regulatory audits and client transparency.

Looking to Scale Your Organic Sample Preparation?

Scaling up organic sample preparation is a complex but manageable process when approached methodically. From adjusting solvent ratios and heating profiles to adopting higher-capacity equipment and automation, each decision influences analytical quality and efficiency.

ATS-Scientific’s scalable solutions—including homogenizers, solvent extractors, digestion/distillation systems, and evaporators—are engineered for performance, safety, and regulatory alignment. Whether you’re scaling up for routine analysis or preparing for commercial production, ATS’s expertise and technology can help you bridge the gap between precision and productivity.

What Every Food Scientist Should Know About Nutritional Analysis Tools

May 15, 2025

Nutritional analysis is a foundational element in food science. Whether you're formulating a new product, verifying nutritional labels, or ensuring compliance with food safety regulations, precise quantification of nutrients is essential. A wide variety of analytical tools are available to help food scientists measure the chemical composition of food accurately and efficiently. Understanding how these tools work, when to use them, and how to interpret the data they provide is key to maintaining product quality and meeting regulatory standards.

Why Nutritional Analysis Matters

Nutritional analysis supports critical decisions in product development, quality assurance, labeling, and regulatory compliance. Nutrient content can vary based on raw materials, processing methods, and storage conditions. Consistent, accurate analysis helps manufacturers maintain brand integrity and meet national and international standards such as those from the FDA, CFIA, and EU regulatory bodies.

Modern instrumentation has significantly improved the speed and accuracy of nutrient measurement, offering food scientists greater flexibility in testing strategies and quality control.

Key Macronutrient Testing Tools

Protein Analysis: The most common methods for determining protein content are the Kjeldahl and Dumas (combustion) methods. Both measure nitrogen content, which is then converted to protein using a standardized factor. ATS-Scientific supplies both Kjeldahl digestion/distillation systems and CHNS analyzers that support Dumas combustion, offering reliable, high-throughput solutions suitable for food matrices.
Fat Extraction: Traditional Soxhlet extraction remains a gold standard, but modern accelerated solvent extraction systems provide faster, more automated workflows. ATS offers solvent extraction systems that comply with AOAC and ISO methods, enabling total fat quantification across a wide range of sample types.
Carbohydrates and Fiber: Total carbohydrates are often calculated by difference, but specific sugars can be measured using HPLC or enzymatic assays. For dietary fiber, gravimetric methods like those outlined by AOAC require precise digestion and filtration steps. ATS-Scientific supports this with fiber analyzers and digestion units suitable for crude and total dietary fiber determination.
Moisture and Ash: Gravimetric moisture analyzers and muffle furnaces for ash content are essential tools for proximate analysis. ATS offers a range of moisture balances and combustion systems ideal for routine use in food labs.

Micronutrient and Elemental Analysis

Vitamin Analysis: While many vitamins require chromatography (HPLC or LC-MS) for accurate measurement, some—like vitamin C—can be quantified using titration or UV-Vis spectroscopy. ATS-Scientific provides colorimetric and UV-Vis spectrophotometric analyzers well-suited to routine vitamin assays.
Minerals and Trace Elements: Techniques such as atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS), inductively coupled plasma (ICP-OES/MS), and ion chromatography are used to quantify essential minerals and detect contaminants. ATS offers systems capable of these analyses and supports users in meeting strict regulatory requirements for mineral content in food.
CHNS/O Analysis: Elemental analyzers that determine carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, sulfur, and oxygen are used to provide compositional insight and support caloric value calculations. ATS’s CHNS analyzers are particularly effective for food scientists seeking a comprehensive view of a product’s organic makeup.

Rapid Screening with Spectroscopy

UV-Vis spectroscopy is used extensively for routine nutrient and contaminant detection. For example, colorimetric assays for iron, phosphates, or certain vitamins can be performed quickly and accurately using ATS-Scientific's spectrophotometric solutions.

Compliance, Data Management, and Integration

Effective nutritional analysis also depends on rigorous data management and method compliance. ATS’s instruments support standard methods (AOAC, ISO, EPA) and offer software integration options that ensure traceability, automate calculations, and streamline reporting.

Automated sample loaders, barcode systems, and LIMS integration enhance workflow efficiency in high-throughput environments, making it easier for labs to maintain consistency and meet audit requirements.

Looking for Lab Instruments for Nutritional Analysis?

Nutritional analysis is more than a regulatory checkbox—it’s a critical component of quality assurance and product development. With the right tools and workflows, food scientists can generate reliable, reproducible data to guide decisions and meet consumer expectations.

ATS-Scientific provides a full suite of lab instruments for nutritional analysis—from CHNS analyzers and digestion units to spectroscopy and automated sample prep systems. Backed by expert technical support and compliance-ready software, our solutions help food labs improve accuracy, speed, and operational confidence.

Whether you're just starting to build your lab's capabilities or scaling up for commercial production, understanding and applying the right nutritional analysis tools will set the foundation for success.

Automation for Reliable Pharmaceutical Tablet Testing

May 14, 2025

A major challenge for the pharmaceutical industry, is ensuring the quality and consistency. To alleviate this concern, pharma companies constantly look to improve their workflow safety, consistentcy and ultimately meeting stringent regulations; this prevents expensive product-recalls and ensures brand integrity. Considerations including tablet thickness, hardness, weight, size, and shape need to be taken into account to ensure the correct dosage, prevent problems in the manufacturing process, and make the tablet itself easy to swallow.

Whether you're testing solid tablets or capsules, ensuring there is no variability from one batch to another is critical. Here’s why:

Weight: Measuring for the weight of each tablet ensures that there is a consistent dosage. Inconsistent weights may result in an over or under dosage causing ineffective treatment
Thickness: The thickness of each pharmaceutical is important when considering the pill or capsules dissolution and its effectiveness. The thickness measurement also helps in ensuring consistency.
Width & Length: This comes down to the experience of swallowing this medication. Too large and the tablet itself could present itself as a choking-hazard or prevent the user from swallowing the tablet at all.
Hardness: The hardness of each tablet is essential to ensure the proper time-release of the pharmaceutical and prevents breaking or chipping. The hardness is also useful for making sure the tablet is in a useable state when received by the user.

Labs who employ manual testing methods in their workflow find the process extremely time consuming and struggle to ensure both accuracy and consistency. As this is realized and the struggle becomes more evident, pharmaceutical labs are turning to automated solutions for their tablet testing. Automation streamlines your workflow from R&D to final production and ensures a reliable and consistent pharmaceutical tablet without compromising quality.

In keeping with the integration of an automated system in your lab, consider the time saving measures. A fully automated tablet tester is capable of providing test results in a fraction of the time, increasing your throughput capabilities and allowing you to perform other laboratory tasks while the unit processes your samples.

The ERWEKA EasyCheck is a low-profile unit for fully automatic and high-precision testing of your tablets for precise weight, thickness, size and hardness with limited human intervention. Improving your workflow even further, the EasyCheck saves up to 1 million results directly on the unit so that you will never have to worry about missing data and will have an audit trail for future reference.

If challenges of ensuring product quality and consistency are slowing your workflow, now is the time to consider automation as a solution to your pharmaceutical testing requirements.

Curious about automating your lab’s workflow and improving efficiency?
Click here to read more and learn how

EasyCheck Brochure & Product Specifications

Enhancing Pharmaceutical Prep

May 7, 2025

Are you struggling to achieve precise, reproducible, and scalable milling solutions in your pharmaceutical R&D efforts? Common problems often arise from the unreliable results produced by inconsistent particle size distribution from one batch to another. This inconsistency can cause you unnecessary slowdowns and failed test results.

Enter the ERWEKA 403 Conical Mill, a robust solution for the early stages of your lab’s product development with the ability to perform multiple tasks including milling, mixing and granulating with one low-profile benchtop instrument. The AR 403 features easily interchangeable attachments for varying applications from pharma to cosmetics and is designed with a robust motor to provide consistent performance under varying loads.
|The drive unit AR 403 is equipped with a three-phase AC motor. The sturdy ball bearing worm gear drive is completely maintenance free and provides an output torque of max. 23 Nm. The unit features electronic speed control, variable between 20 and 400 rpm. A digital dial regulates the speed.

Enhance your lab with reliable results and consistency in your particle size distribution, reduce on lab space needed for multiple instruments and ensure precision and quality with every batch.

To learn more about the ERWEKA AR 403 and how it can improve your R&D efforts click here:
https://ats-scientific.com/products/ar-403-our-all-purpose-solution

50 Years of Purge and Trap

April 30, 2025

When using a concentrator system, it is not essential to understand how it works. However, a good grasp of the fundamentals helps prevent problems and assists you when you are faced with tasks such as method development and troubleshooting. The purpose of this blog is to help you develop an understanding of how and why compounds are concentrated.

While gas chromatography is a powerful analytical tool, it does have several limitations. Many different techniques for a wide variety of samples have developed to overcome these limitations. The limitations, which P&T concentration is designed to overcome, include:

a. Environmental Analysis - Many pollutants must be measured at low levels; sometimes, in the sub-part-per-billion (ppb) range.

b. Flavor and Fragrance Analysis - The human nose is one of the most sensitive detectors in existence.

Gas chromatography operates as an interaction between vapor and liquid phases. The sample must start out as a vapor. For this reason, there are many samples, such as pollutants in soil or flavors in solid food that cannot be directly introduced into a GC.

The ability to analyze VOCs is a vital part of environmental monitoring, outgassing studies, flavor or fragrance analysis, among others. P&T is a technique that separates the VOCs from a matrix. After separation, the VOCs are then concentrated and injected into the GC for separation.

Brief History

In the 1960s, P&T was used in the study of bodily fluids. In the mid-to-late 1970s, P&T became a technique that was well-known and widely applied due the need to monitor VOCs in drinking water. Using this technique, it was possible to detect sub-ppb level VOCs of a wide variety. Today, P&T is routinely applied in the environmental area for the analysis of VOCs in soil and water. The arrival of microprocessor-driven systems allows the concentrator to be more precise and automated, giving the operator more time for other projects.

Purge and Trap Operation Overview

A measured amount of sample is placed in a sealed vessel. The sample is purged with inert gas, causing VOCs to be swept out of the sample. The VOCs are retained in an analytical trap, which allows the purge gas to pass through to vent. The VOCs are then desorbed by heating the trap, injected into the GC by backflushing the trap with carrier gas, and separated and detected by normal GC operation.

Purging

In the previous section it states, ”The sample is purged with an inert gas, causing VOCs to be swept out of the sample.” This is a very simple-sounding way of describing what is in reality a rather complex process. Purging a sample to extract analytes is a gas extraction. There are many factors that affect the efficiency of this extraction. The amount of each compound purged is proportional to both its vapor pressure and its solubility in the sample. Both of these are in turn, affected by the sample temperature.

Consider the case of a sample sealed in a closed vial. Above the sample is a vapor space, which is usually referred to as the headspace. If you allow the sample sufficient time, VOCs in the sample will migrate into the vapor space. After a certain period of time, equilibrium will be established, and the concentration of the volatile compounds in each phase will be stabilized.

At this point a portion of the headspace can be removed and injected into the GC for analysis. The technique is known as Equilibrium Analysis or Static Headspace Analysis. The amount of material in the vapor phase will be proportional to the partial pressure of the component. The equation below describes the phase distribution of sample.

P_T = P₁ + P₂ + P₃ + ... + P_n = X₁ P₁^o + X₂ P₂^o + X₃ P₃^o + ... + X_nP_n^o

where:

P_T = total vapor pressure of system

P₁, etc. = partial pressure of each compound

P₁^o, etc. = vapor pressures of the pure compounds

x₁, etc. = mole fractions of each compound

In purging a sample, the system is no longer at equilibrium. This is because the VOCs that move into the vapor phase are constantly being removed by the purge gas. Under these circumstances, there is no migration of components from the vapor to liquid phase. This means that the partial pressure of any individual component above the sample at any time is essentially zero. This encourages even greater migration of the VOCs into the vapor phase, purging the sample more efficiently. Purging a sample for 10 minutes with helium (at a flow rate of 50 mL/min.) results in a more efficient extraction of volatiles than equilibrium, using 500 mL headspace. This purging technique is called Dynamic Headspace Analysis. For aqueous matrices, the increase in efficiency can be upwards of 100 fold, using dynamic versus static headspace analysis.

Extraction efficiency improves with an increase in sweep volume. Sweep volume, a function of sweep time and flow rate, is the amount of purge gas used to extract the analytes. Since the analytes are being trapped on a sorbent bed, there are limitations to the sweep times and flow rates that can be used. These limitations are determined by the compounds of interest in the sample and the sorbent material used in the trap.

Trapping and Adsorption

An analytical trap is a short gas chromatograph column. Compounds entering the trap will slowly elute with a measurable retention volume. Retention volume is the amount of purge gas that passes through the trap before elution of the analytes begins to occur.

At lower trap temperatures, retention volumes are high. At higher desorption temperatures, retention volumes are much smaller, allowing rapid transfer to the GC. In this context, the use of retention time is not correct. The correct parameter is retention volume.

When elution does occur, it is usually referred to as breakthrough, and the retention volume, at which breakthrough occurs, is often referred to as the breakthrough volume. Sorbent materials are usually chosen so that the breakthrough volume is high for analytes and low for water. Care must be taken that the sorbent chosen does not retain the analytes too strongly or efficient desorption may not be possible. Traps containing combinations of sorbents are often used to enhance performance.

The trap is packed with the weaker sorbent on top. The stronger sorbent is placed below the weaker sorbent. Less volatile analytes that are not effectively desorbed by the stronger sorbent are retained by the weaker sorbent.

Therefore, the less volatile analytes fail to reach the stronger sorbent. Only the more volatile analytes reach the stronger sorbent; and because of their volatility, these analytes can be efficiently desorbed. The desorption is carried out by backflushing the trap, ensuring that the heavier analytes never come in contact with the stronger sorbent.

Teledyne Tekmar developed the first commercial Purge and Trap concentrators in 1975, and today offers a comprehensive line of products, including the Stratum, which uses the Teledyne Hastings Mass Flow Controller to deliver unmatched precision and accuracy. Teledyne’s AQUATek 100 automates the sample preparation steps for analyzing liquid samples, while the Atomx Automated Sample Prep System combines an autosampler and Purge and Trap into a single instrument for analyzing VOCs in soils and water.