Thermo Scientific EA IsoLink IRMS System Operating Manual page 123

Inserting the Reactor with a Bottom Feed Connector (BFC)
 To insert the reactor with a bottom feed connector
1. Loosely screw the nut with washer and o-ring on the BFC. Insert the ceramic tube from top.
Fix it in this position using the upper o-ring.
2. Insert the bottle brush in the glassy carbon tube and introduce it in the ceramic tube from top.
Use your other hand to carefully slip it over the o-rings of the BFC while keeping the ceramic tube
up. Hold it tight while removing the bottle brush.
3. Now unscrew the nut and slip it with washer and o-ring over the ceramic tube at the bottom.
Fix it using the steel rod and a 32 mm wrench.
4. Slowly insert the granules into the glassy carbon tube from top. Make sure no granule blocks the
tube. Check the height with the mark on the graphite crucible remover tool by placing the crucible
on the crucible remover and inserting it into the glassy carbon tube. The distance from the top of
the crucible to the rim of the ceramic must be 270 mm. Here is the hottest zone of the furnace.
5. Drop the crucible into the reactor and introduce the insert on top of the glassy carbon tube.
Removing the Reactor from the Bottom Feed Connector (BFC)
 To remove the reactor from the bottom feed connector
1. Wait to cool down.
2. Put in sample dilution in the ConFlo, or close the needle valve at the mass spectrometer. Stop the
carrier gas flow through the pyrolysis system. Wait for the system to de-pressurize (3-5 minutes).
3. Remove the autosampler for liquids.
4. Unscrew the BFC using the steel rod and a 32 mm wrench.
5. Put on lint free gloves. Remove upper graphite tube insert from inside the ceramic tube.
6. Insert the bottle brush into the glassy carbon reactor.
7. Lift the ceramic tube with one hand and get a finger underneath the glassy carbon tube keeping
the ceramic tube up with the same hand.
8. Slip the glassy carbon tube from the o-rings of the BFC while carefully pulling the tube with the
bottle brush from top.
9. Remove o-ring, washer and nut at the bottom of the ceramic tube and take it out.
Thermo Scientific
6
Using EA IsoLink IRMS System for CNSOH
High-Temperature Conversion – Analysis of H and O Isotopes
EA IsoLink IRMS System for CNSOH Operating Manual 95