Fast ashing in minutes instead of hours!
PYRO High Thoughput
Advanced Microwave Muffle Furnace
The new Milestone PYRO is an advanced microwave ashing furnace perfectly suitable for sulphate ashing, loss on ignition (LOI), residue on ignition (ROI), fusion and all types of high-temperature reactions under controlled conditions.
Fast ashing in minutes instead of hours!
Determination of ash content is an important test performed daily in thousands of laboratories worldwide whether for process control or for preparation of other analytical processes.
While ashing is a relatively simple process, conventional muffle furnaces are often inefficient, leading to tedious and time-consuming procedures. The invention of microwave furnace for dry ashing applications has represented a breakthrough in the process and quality control of samples like polymers, petroleum, food and feeds, pulp paper and pharmaceuticals. Unique design of PYRO microwave muffle furnace ashing system eliminates equipment corrosion and acid fume pollution, greatly reducing analyst exposure to acid fumes. PYRO ashing furnace ensures usage of all available crucibles including metal, porcelain and quartz fiber. In particular, the unique Milestone UltraFAST quartz fiber crucibles are perfectly suitable for microwave diffuser and further acceleration of suphate ashing process.
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● Enhanced performance. Advanced microwave heating in just 8 minutes instead of hours!
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● Three interchangeable configurations. Choose your preferred set-up and crucible types
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● Operator's safety. No exposure to heat and fumes
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● Standard method compliance. ASTM, USP, SEMI and ISO compliance
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● Rugged and durable construction. Standard 1 year warranty!
Product Specialist
Mikael Alfredsson
"Our expert in Digestion, Extraction, Syntesis and Evaporation with more than 20 years experience in the field of sales and service. Contact me for if you have questions or need a quotation"
Rugged and durable construction
STANDARD 1 YEAR WARRANTY!
While ashing is a relatively simple process, conventional muffle furnaces are often inefficient, leading to tedious and time-consuming procedures. The advent of microwave technology for dry ashing applications has represented a breakthrough in the process and quality control of samples like polymers, petroleum, food and feeds, pulp paper and pharmaceuticals.
LARGEST MICROWAVE CAVITY
Equipped with a full stainless steel door, the new Milestone PYRO microwave cavity has a volume in excess of 70 liters, thus allowing the use of a large muffle which in turn enhances the sample throughput. Additionally, a large cavity ensures that the outer temperature of the PYRO remains very low, even when the inner temperature of the furnace is in excess of 1.000°C.
TEMPERATURE CONTROL
The new Milestone PYRO is equipped with the most advanced yet easy to use temperature sensors for complete control of the ashing conditions. These NIST-traceable sensors allow rapid verification and calibration of the furnace temperature for ISO and GLP procedures.
HIGHEST POWER
The PYRO is equipped with two 950 Watt magnetrons for a total of 1900 Watt making it the most powerful microwave muffle furnace system available in the market. The system additionally employs a rotating diffuser that evenly distributes the microwaves throughout the cavity, assuring a uniform temperature is achieved inside the furnace
METHOD COMPLIANCE
The PYRO meets or exceeds the equipment requirements for electrically heated furnaces in the following methods: ASTM, USP ROI 281 and LOI 733, AOAC, FDA, ISO and DIN. It also meets or exceeds the requirements for applications listing a microwave heated furnace in the following methods: ASTM D5630-94 and ASTM D1506-94b.
A dedicated configuration for every need
The PYRO is available in 3 different and interchangeable configurations: ultrafast heating setup, high sample throughput setup and sulfated ashing setup; it is therefore the most flexible and adaptable microwave muffle furnace available in the market.
High Sample Throughput
The PYRO with High-Throughput Setup accommodates up to 24 Milestone quartz fiber crucibles. A unique, rugged, solid, microwave–transparent, ceramic muffle allows microwave radiation to pass through and rapidly raise the temperature of a silicon carbide plate. Sample crucibles are placed on a large clean quartz plate and an airflow is induced by a built-in exhaust system. A porous ceramic honeycomb frit built into the wall of the muffle furnace allows a constant stream of air to pass over the sample crucibles. The combination of microwave “superheating” and induced airflow results in a dramatic reduction of the ashing time. Furthermore, a large quartz tube located above the muffle conveys gases and vapors generated by the ashing process to the exhaust pipe.
A very accurate and precise thermocouple monitors and controls the temperature inside the furnace. The sensor signal serves as a feedback control mechanism to regulate microwave power output and to maintain the desired temperature profile.
Any type of crucible (metal, porcelain, quartz, etc.) can be used.
UltraFAST Heating
As the name implies, the PYRO with UltraFAST Setup has an extremely fast heating rate. A typical ashing temperature of 800°C can be reached in just 5 minutes, starting from room temperature! This eliminates the need of running the system overnight, and avoids the lengthy heat up time associated with electrical resistance furnaces, dramatically lowering the power consumption and cost.
A circular heating element assures a perfect temperature uniformity throughout the cavity, largely exceeding requirements of ASTM, USP, SEMI and ISO standard methods. Temperature is monitored and controlled via a contact-less infrared sensor. Up to 5 crucibles are located on a ceramic tray, which can be easily removed from the muffle at the completion of the microwave run.
The incredibly fast heating rate of this PYRO setup, combined with the properties of the Milestone UltraFAST crucibles, makes this configuration the best choice for all high-temperature applications requiring no heating/cooling inertia.
Sulphated Ashing
Ashing of pharmaceutical, polymers, and food samples often involves the use of sulfuric acid. Hot sulfuric acid vapors are hazardous to analysts and corrosive to equipment. Additionally, sulfate ashing methods are labor-intensive and time-consuming, requiring manual fuming of the acid and 8-12 hours to be completed. To overcome these issues, Milestone has developed the Sulfated Ashing Setup.
This PYRO configuration enables the analysts to add sulfuric acid to the samples and directly place crucibles into the microwave muffle furnace, without a preliminary charring step. Tedious handling of samples and operator exposure to acid fumes are totally eliminated.
The system is designed for complete operator safety, and performs the complete sulfate ashing procedure in just 1 hour. Sulfuric acid fumes released from crucibles are continuously exhausted passing through a quartz tube and an air-cooled quartz collection vessel outside the unit. The fumes are finally contained and neutralized in a dedicated acid scrubber module.
easyCONTROL Operating Software
The PYRO is controlled via a compact terminal with an easy-to-read, bright, full-colour, touchscreen display. The terminal is provided with multiple USB and Ethernet ports for interfacing the instrument to external devices and to the local laboratory network. The terminal runs a completely new user-friendly, icon-driven, multi-language software to provide easy control of the microwave run. Simply recall a previously stored method or create a new one, press ‘START’ and the system will automatically follow the user defined temperature utilizing a sophisticated PID algorithm.
Several applications, including all ASTM, USP, SEMI and ISO methods, are preloaded in the PYRO terminal. There is no need to input the number of crucibles or sample weights, as the software will automatically regulate the microwave power according to the temperature profile desired.
This assures a consistent quality of the results and simplifies the use of the instrument.
Reduce your ashing time with the right choice of Crucibles
The type and the size of the sample crucibles have a great influence over the ashing process, both in terms of time and quality of results.
ultraFAST Crucibles
The UltraFAST crucibles allow the PYRO user to dramatically reduce the overall ashing time, from start to end. They are made of an innovative material that, although chemically and thermally resistant, allows the samples to be surrounded by a constant airflow which, in turn, accelerates the ashing process. Furthermore, the cooling time is so short that there is no need to use a dessicator prior samples weighing. Just 30 seconds are enough to go from 1000°C to room temperature. The UltraFAST crucibles are suitable for the ashing of any solid sample, such as polymers, pharmaceuticals, food and feed, cokes, coals etc.
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● Shorter ashing time
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● Fast heating and cooling
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● High chemical and thermal stability
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● Constant weight
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● Long lifetime
Self-closing Quartz Crucibles
The self-closing quartz crucibles and dedicated rack ensures fast Carbon Black Determination In Olefin Plastic and high reproducibility compared with the reference method ASTM D1603, thus avoiding the use of nitrogen. The vacuum generated during the release of combustion fumes ensures perfect sealing and an inert athmosphere the quartz crucibles, allowing for complete determination of the carbon black. The self-closing quartz crucibles and microwave heating allow for carbon black determination in only a few minutes, obtaining superior data reliability and reproducibility.
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● Shorter ashing time
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● Fast heating and cooling
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● High chemical and thermal stability
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● Constant weight
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● Long lifetime
Over 90% Time Saving
| SAMPLE | TEMPERATURE (°C) | TIME (MINUTES) |
| Pet Food | 575 | 20 |
| Milk Powder | 550 | 20 |
| Milk Poder | 550 | 20 |
| Wheat Flour | 900 | 50 |
| Polypropylene | 650 | 20 |
| PVC | 900 | 15 |
| Coal | 750 | 20 |
| Heavy Oil | 550 | 45 |
| Rubber Tyre | 550 | 45 |
