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Tuning of analytical instruments is a skill that is often neglected in undergraduate chemistry courses, but it is vital for industrial and PhD research. This app was developed to complement theoretical material taught on an Atomic Spectrometry course at Loughborough University. It aims to increase student understanding of the factors involved in tuning, through interaction with a simulated ICP-MS instrument. The objective of the exercise is to achieve the highest possible sensitivity for indium, whilst keeping oxide ratio as low as possible.
The app is provided free of charge with no warranties or
guarantees - use it or not as you wish.
If you have any IT-related questions, ask Peter. However, if you
have chemistry-related questions or you're unsure of its applicability,
then you should contact Amy.
This app has been developed to run on any recent version of Windows
from Windows 7 onwards. Also, it can run on any recent version of OS
X/macOS on the Macintosh from v 10.7.5 onwards (including Sierra,
10.12.x). The app has no special requirements in terms of memory, disk
space, processor speed or graphics card, it'll simply run faster or
slower depending on the actual specification of your computer.
Note that the app output of your tuned settings are in the form of Acrobat/PDF files.
Also, a good text editor is useful for manipulating the associated app text files (*.ini and *.txt, see below). We suggest the use of NotePad++ for Windows and BBEdit for the Mac if you don't have something suitable already. Here are links to both of these:
This app is loosely based on the Thermo Element XR ICP-MS.
This app doesn't require any special installer or uninstaller if you decide to remove it. Simply unzip the archive you've downloaded and place the "ICP-MS TuneSim" folder wherever is convenient. For Mac users, usually you'd place this in the Applications folder, but it can be on the Desktop or in the Documents folder instead.
For Windows users, the usual place might be inside the Program Files folder, but it can be on the Desktop if you prefer. To uninstall the app, just throw away its folder.
Note that Mac users may need to open the app the first time by right-clicking
the app and selecting Open from the pop-up menu and
then entering the account details for the admin user. Similarly, Window
users are likely to be asked to give permission to run the app for the
first time. This is because we haven't gone through the processes to
register the app with Apple and Microsoft - it's not worth the effort
for limited distribution apps. If you're unhappy about this or at all
unsure that you trust my apps, don't use them! Otherwise, just do
what's required once and you'll not be bothered again when you use the
app from now onwards.
The app uses associated text and HTML files "ICP-MS TuneSim.ini" and
"ICP-MS TuneSim.htm" control the facilities and behaviour of the app.
These 2 files must remain alongside the app itself (*.exe or *.app).
If you have any IT-related questions, ask Peter. However, if you
have chemistry-related questions or you're unsure of its applicability
to your instrument, then you should contact Amy. Our contact details
are as follows:
| Dr Peter Reid Reid-IT Limited Loughborough Leicestershire LE11 3SP, UK Email: preid@reidit.co.uk |
Dr Amy Managh Department of Chemistry Loughborough University Loughborough, Leicestershire LE11 3TU, UK Email: A.J.Managh@lboro.ac.uk |
This page was last updated 11 April 2018.