The Right Ingredients - Katanax K2 Prime Manual

The right
ingredients
From the preceding paragraphs, we already know how to launch a fusion
program. There are, however, a few other things than one should know to obtain
a perfect disk. These include:
Sample preparation
Besides the traditional specifications of a sample to be representative,
uncontaminated and dry, Katanax recommends that the sample be ground to
<100µm. This is to ensure that the fusion be completed within a reasonable time.
Additionally, the sample must be fully oxidized before heating the crucible
containing the sample.
The Pause button is used to temporarily "freeze" the
ongoing fusion.
In pause mode, timers are suspended, and the current
furnace temperature is maintained. Any ongoing motor
motion will be continued or completed. This can be useful
when some extra time is required to complete an oxidation
or dissolution reaction, for example.
Press the Pause button again to resume normal operation.
This cluster represents the elapsed time (mm : ss) since
the requested temperature is attained, as well as the
currently-running step number (in red).
See page 31, Description of the fusion steps, for more
information on this topic.
The Stop button, as the name implies, is used to halt an
ongoing fusion process, stopping all motors.
This can be used when one realizes that the crucibles or
molds are not properly prepared, or in case of emergency,
for example.
 Pressing Stop again will cancel the ongoing program and
reset the instrument.
 Pressing Start instead will resume the fusion program.
1. properly preparing the sample for the fusion,
2. selecting the appropriate flux blend from the sample type,
3. determining the total mass in the crucible from the mold capacity,
4. estimating the flux-to-sample ratio,
5. using the appropriate additives, and
6. mixing the components together.
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