Experience has shown that once more than three simultaneous chemistries are attempted the time involved in verifying and maintaining reagents, flow rates, pump tubes, etc. outweighs the time gained by analyzing all the analytes at once. Since the FS3100 was specifically designed with rapid changeover in mind it is actually faster to run one or [...]

IC can analyze Ammonia, Cyanide, Total P, TKN, and Hardness. The problem with IC and these parameters is that they are single analytes that cannot be determined simultaneously.

Analysis “lag” time is a function of the chemistry / method and NOT whether it is FIA or SFA. Color develops at equal speeds regardless of whether there are air segmentations or not. Since dispersion forces FIA methods to elute peaks within 1 – 2 minutes there is an appearance that FIA is faster. Only [...]

Yes, when using the auto dilutor calibrations can be prepared from a single stock.

The “shutdown” time is a function of the internal volume of the flow path and has nothing to do with air segmentation; the “shutdown” time is chemistry cartridge dependent and is identical for FIA and SFA.

Carryover is an integral part of all continuous flow methods and is a result of longitudinal dispersion that occurs as liquids travel down tubes. Segmentation minimizes the dispersion resulting in the near rectangular output of a SFA signal. FIA methods, on the other hand, rely on the carrier solution to wash remnants of the sample [...]

All continuous flow methods (SFA and FIA) have highly precise sample volumes and analysis times. While FIA injects with a valve, SFA injects by time. Each standard and sample is exposed to exactly the same conditions meaning that reactions in both FIA and SFA methods do not need to be carried to completion (steady state). [...]

The amount of time necessary to “condition” a manifold is a function of the internal volume of the manifold tubing and not whether bubbles are present. It is important in all continuous flow methods to rinse the manifold with reagent water (or reagent water with surfactant) prior to analysis until a steady baseline is obtained.

A fundamental advantage of FIA is the simplicity of the cartridges, apparatus, and methods when segmentation is not used. However, the lack of segmentation limits the ruggedness of FIA methods and requires careful adherence to flow rates, and total sample flow path volumes to avoid significant changes in throughput, dynamic range, and detection limits. SFA, [...]

Flow analysis has advantages over manual methods that include smaller sample volume and reagent consumption, greater reproducibility, and higher throughput. Typical continuous flow methods can analyze samples from 30 up to over 300 samples per hour. Normally, throughput is limited to 30 – 90 samples per hour to allow baseline resolution between samples, better detection [...]