University of Wisconsin-Madison

Malvern Instruments Inc

Westborough  MA  01581

DESCRIPTION

UNIT PRICE

Mastersizer Optical Bench

$42,893.00

Small volume sample dispersion unit

$7,802.00

NIST particle size standards

$283.00

I.

Mastersizer Optical Bench Specifications

1.

Particle size range must be from 0.02-2000 um using a single lens.  A narrower range would not be acceptable for contract work with pharmaceutical companies.

2.

The equipment must not require changing the lens for different particle size ranges.

3.

The equipment must use both blue and red light sources for optimal detection of small and large particles.

4.

There must be detectors at wide and in backward angle directions to optimize detection of small particles (e.g., <1 um).

5.

The sample cell must be easily removable for cleaning.

6.

Data acquisition must be triggered automatically according to user-entered parameters.

7.

The laser must auto-align with the detector.

8.

The equipment must allow for easy exchange of multiple sample dispersion units, specifically a wet and a dry powder unit.

9.

The wet sample dispersion unit must require a sample volume of no more than 120 mL.

10.

The Station will need to add an additional dry powder dispersion unit in the future, so the equipment must have available a dry powder dispersion unit that can be easily exchanged with the wet dispersion unit.

11.

The Station will also need to add a small volume dispersion unit in the future, so the equipment must have such a unit available.  The small volume dispersion unit must use volumes no larger than 20 mL.

12.

The wet dispersion unit must be easily cleaned for change of solvents from aqueous to organic.

13.

The wet dispersion unit must allow for organic solvents.

14.

The wet dispersion unit must have a variable speed stirrer with rate from 0 to at least 3000 rpm.

15.

The software must allow for two modes of analysis: Fraunhofer and Mie, with user-entered refractive indices and absorption coefficients.

16.

The software must allow for user-entered data acquisition times from as short as 1 s to at least 60 s.

17.

The software must allow for easy overlay of multiple files.

18.

The software must allow for conversion of volume to other distributions.

19.

The software must allow for averaging of multiple files.

20.

The software must provide customized reports.

21.

The software must allow for a real-time view of the particle size distribution.

22.

The software must allow for access to the raw data.

23.

The software must allow for the data to be exported to ASCII or Excel format.

24.

Software upgrades must be available at no charge, preferably as downloads from the company website.

25.

A second copy of the software must be available at no charge for use on an office computer for offline analyses (i.e., in addition to the software that runs the equipment).

26.

There must be no charge for technical assistance via phone, email and website.

27.

There must be no extra charge for equipment installation and initial training, or if there is an extra charge, it must be factored into the overall cost of the equipment.