AUTOMATED BOD SYSTEM
An automated system for measuring the dissolved oxygen (DO) content of water samples.
The system automates several time consuming and laborious tasks involved with the BOD measurement process. Capped bottles are loaded into racks and placed on the system bed, which has a 60 bottle capacity. The system processes two bottles simultaneously.
Caps are removed before the bottles are diluted by filling to a set level. DO probes are dipped into the bottles and the sample is stirred whilst a reading is taken. The caps are replaced into the bottles and the probes are washed between samples. A full 60 bottle process takes approximately 60 minutes depending upon the amount of dilution water that is added.
Key Features.
Capping/Decapping
The system uses custom caps to fit into 300ml Wheaton glass bottles. The caps are robotically removed and replaced during a process.
Probe Washing
The DO probes are washed between DO measurements to reduce the risk of cross contamination between samples.
Dilution
The water samples are topped up to a set level before taking the initial DO reading.
DO Measurement
The system dips the DO probes into the sample and takes a reading whilst the sample is being stirred.
Sample Scheduling
A calendar function allows for the scheduling of samples in the system software.
Automatic BOD Calculation
Using information entered by the user, such as BOD calculation method and dilution factors, the BOD of a sample is given using the two DO measurements,