One of ways to optimize laboratory workflows is automation. Elemental analysis labs of BASF SE in Ludwigshafen have extensive history of automation, as the first automated acid digestion robot having been in operation since 1996 and constructed internally in the company. After almost three decades of different automation solutions, we would like to share the past, the present, and our view on the future of automation in the elemental analysis.

There are different goals that can be achieved with automation. The acid digestion automation was triggered by the need to increase the throughput of the samples to meet growing needs for determination of metals, enhance safety for the employees and analyses precision. The challenges in this kind of automation are very corrosive and reactive chemicals and high temperatures that are used; therefore, the automation should be reliable, robust and safe. The currently operating third and fourth generations of the acid digestion robots are primarily used for analysis of organic samples and utilize inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) or inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) for quantification.

Another example of automation is the sample preparation robot for melt digestions. Melt digestions are primarily used for inorganic samples; and the robot is able to produce glass beads for X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF) or alternatively dissolve the glass beads to obtain the solutions for ICP-OES analysis. The new system takes one more step in the direction of fully autonomous analytical laboratory showing versatility, robustness, analysis accuracy, high reproducibility, and precision.