What is lab equipment calibration?

In the context of lab research, it typically means adjusting or standardizing your equipment so it can be more precise. This can include marking the graduations on a measuring device, or figuring out how much an instrument deviates from standard and adjusting for that difference.

How often should pressure gauges be calibrated

Calibration is the procedure of comparing a reference with a known error margin against a device (for example a pressure gauge) under test. If the device doesn’t match the reference, then we adjust it to match, or at least come close, the desired measuring accuracy. The reference measurement instrument must be more accurate than the pressure gauge to be calibrated, and it must also be traceable. To calibrate a pressure gauge, we will need to check the values throughout the entire measuring range, zero point, intermediate values, and the full-scale value.

What does calibrating an instrument mean

Calibration is a comparison between a known measurement (the standard) and the measurement using your instrument.

What is the purpose of equipment calibration?

It is important to calibrate equipment to help assure accurate measurements and production of quality products with reduced errors and recalls. It is also important to calibrate equipment to foster innovation and the development of new technologies, as accurate measurements are foundational to both.

How often should you calibrate lab equipment?

Instrument calibration and maintenance are an integral part of any operation in manufacturing/ laboratory. and are vital for data quality assurance. Accurate and reliable monitoring results are crucial for data analysis, particularly when the monitoring results are to be compared with the relevant standards or guidelines for compliance purposes, or for population exposure and health risk assessments. Where such analyses lead to air quality policy formulation and the quality of the original data is especially important. This Procedure outlines the basic requirements for the calibration and maintenance of monitoring instruments based primarily on standard monitoring methods. Monitoring agencies should develop their own detailed calibration and maintenance programs appropriate to their data quality assurance goals.

Home » Blog » Understanding Different Types of Lab Equipment and Their Uses

Understanding Different Types of Lab Equipment and Their Uses

May 30, 2022

May 30, 2022

A scientific lab has a wide range of specialized equipment and scientific apparatus. These equipment and apparatus are useful in chemical, pharmaceutical, biological food, cosmetic, and educational institutions’ labs.

Here are the different types of lab equipment and their uses:

Mixers, Shakers, and Stirrers

These apparatus are useful when mixing various chemical liquids and solids for different lab applications. Laboratory mixing apparatus come in different ranges: rotators and vortexes, 3D gyratory rockers, microplate shakers, linear shakers, orbital shakers, and magnetic stirrers. If you want to increase the capacity of any shaker, attach a clamp or any other suitable platform.

Centrifuge

A centrifuge is an equipment used to separate gases, fluids, and liquids with different densities. Centrifuges are mostly used in research laboratories to purify nucleic acids, proteins, viruses, organelles, and cells. In a hospital laboratory, a centrifuge is useful in separating various blood components such as plasma and serum.

Spectrophotometer

A spectrophotometer is equipment that helps determine the light intensity by measuring the number of photons absorbed as they pass through a specific solution. The equipment is also useful in determining the concentration of chemical substances by analyzing the amount of light intensity. Spectrophotometers are classified according to the wavelength range of their light sources.

There are two types of spectrophotometers:

UV-Visible spectrophotometer: This device uses visible light and ultraviolet rays under specific ranges under the electromagnetic spectrum.
IR spectrophotometer: This device uses visible light and infrared rays under specific ranges under the electromagnetic spectrum.

Thermostatic Bath

A thermostatic bath is useful in inactivating and incubating cell cultures, thawing frozen samples, processing chemical reactions, and warming bacterial media. It is an important piece of equipment in medical research, a special and standard lab that deals with industrial and scientific experiments. Modern thermostatic baths are equipped with microprocessors with a controller that allows temperature consistency and regulation.

There are two types of thermostatic baths:

Water baths
Oil baths

Ultrasonic Cleaner

An ultrasonic cleaner perfectly cleans laboratory equipment using high-frequency waves that pass through a cleaning liquid. The immersed part of lab equipment is cleaned by the agitated liquid solution, mainly a solvent or water. The ultrasonic cleaner works by causing cavitation to the solution. Cavitation is when sonic energy dislodges the contaminants from the equipment surfaces by attracting them to the solutions bubbles.

Incubators and Ovens

Incubators and ovens are mostly used in microbiology, biology, and clinical labs. Lab incubators are used to incubate media, samples, and reagents. A lab incubator provides a steady temperature when warming the samples or reagents. Other applications of incubators include biotech, pharmaceutical, clinical, bacteriology, and food and beverage testing.

Ovens are mostly used in laboratories for drying samples and glassware, annealing, product age acceleration, sterilization, evaporation, and polymerization.

Rotary Evaporator

Also known as rotavap, a rotary evaporator is an equipment that helps separate solvents from a given sample through evaporation. The process is usually done under low or reduced pressure. Lowering the pressure in the flask allows the solvent to boil at a low temperature. The solvent is mostly put in a round bottom flask to provide a larger surface area for faster evaporation. The most common solvents to be separated from a sample are hexane and ethyl acetate.

Polarimeter

A polarimeter is an equipment that measures the angle of rotation after an optically active material polarizes a light. Some chemicals are optically active and will polarize right, causing it to rotate either clockwise or anticlockwise. The intensity of such a light rotation is called the angle of rotation. The direction of rotation of the polarized light provides the properties of such substance and its concentration in a given sample.

Microtome

A microtome is cutting equipment used to produce very thin slices of samples under experiment. Microtomes are mostly used in microcopy, where samples are studied through electron radiation or observed through light. Most microtomes have diamond, glass, or steel blades. The blades vary according to the specimen to be used and the thickness of the slices required.

Conclusion

The apparatus and equipment mentioned above are useful when operating a laboratory, either industrial, research, or standard. At Biotechnical Services, Inc., we supply the latest high-quality equipment for your laboratory needs. Contact us today for any type or make of laboratory equipment.

Understanding Different Types of Lab Equipment and Their Uses