FREESTYLE XANA PFAS loaded with 24 x 1 L sample bottles | © LCTech GmbH
Flexible, precise, modular

FREESTYLE XANA PFAS

Based on the robust and established FREESTYLE XANA robotic system for large-volume water samples (0.1 L – 10 L), LCTech has developed a solution specifically for PFAS applications, in which plastics containing fluorine such as PTFE are avoided.

Further PFAS Robotic Systems: FREESTYLE SPE PFAS FREESTYLE XANA PFAS TableTop
DETAILS AT A GLANCE

XANA for Automated SPE in PFAS Analysis

FREESTYLE XANA PFAS With D-EVA loades with 24 x 1 L sample bottles | © LCTech GmbH

The column is firmly connected to the arm, therefore sample and solvent can be dosed precisely and at a constant flow rate via the SPE column with positive pressure using a syringe pump. Drying is also carried out via positive pressure with nitrogen.

  • Non-stop Policy: If a column becomes blocked, the system detects the overpressure. The column is reset, the system cleans itself automatically and continues with the processing of the next column
  • One rack for all types of columns: reusable adapters allow easy changing and mixing of columns of any standard format
  • Columns can be moved to any position in the rack area
  • Three solvents as standard, upgrade option up to six or even fifteen solvents

In the processing station on the FREESTYLE platform, 3 SPE columns are processed simultaneously in 2 blocks: In block 1, 3 columns are conditioned, loaded and washed in parallel, while in the following block 2, 3 columns are dried in parallel.

The following videos show the processing station of the FREESTYLE XANA. They are identical for all XANA models:

The external processing station is responsible for the fluidics management of the water module with the pumping mechanics of up to 10 L samples, the valves and the sensor technology for process monitoring.

All components in the fluidic way ( tubes, valves, ...) are PTFE-free!

The sample rack offers space for 24 x 1 L sample bottles; optionally 3 sample containers with up to 10 L volume each can be connected to the system. 

Automatic rinsing of the sample bottles possible for optimal quantitative transfer of the sample.

The vacuum concentrator D-EVA allows unattended, parallel and fast concentration of several samples with automatic stop at a defined volume between 10 and 150 µL.

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Specifications

Max. Volume per sample

up to 4 L (10 L retrofitting possible)

Samples per sequence

24

Duration per sequence

approx. 8 hours (for US EPA 537.1)

Samples simultaneously

up to 6

Location

on bench supplied

Fume hood

not required

PFAS compatibility

PE tubings, PTFE-free syringe, PTFE-free valves

Solvent compatibility

all necessary solvents according to the regulations are compatible

Assignment of LCTech Systems and Columns to the Official Standards

No Cross-contamination

  • Customer results according to ISO 21675:2019, which cover 47 PFAS analytes 
  • Reporting limit: ≥ 0.2 ng/L
  • Cross-contamination with extremely highly contaminated samples (e.g. 4500 ng/L) only around 0.2%
  • Duration for 24 samples 6.5 hours, with an additional, customer-specific rinse ~ 8 hours
Recovery rates of 18 PFAS | © LCTech GmbH
Recovery rates of 18 PFAS (listed in US EPA Method 537.1) + 4 surrogates from drinking water with EluCLEAN® SDVB columns (n = 6)
EXCELLENT RESULTS

Recovery Rates

The results show that reliable and robust PFAS analysis can be performed via fully automated sample preparation on the FREESTYLE XANA PFAS robotic system in combination with EluCLEAN®PFAS SPE cartridges. The recoveries shown are very well within the accepted range of 70 - 130%. The precision is also well within the required range, with RSDs of 10% or less. Further results can be found in the following Application Note (AN0054):

PRODUCT VIDEOS + WEBINARS

Videos

LCTech Logo | © LCTech GmbH
Webinar
Automated Sample Clean-up for PFAS Analysis in drinking water, following US EPA 537.1 with FREESTYLE XANA PFAS
Systemvergleich

Other Solutions for PFAS Applications

LCTech developed robotic systems, specially for the sensitive PFAS application, almost completely free of plastics containing fluorine such as PTFE and thus offers a solution to the problem. It has not been possible to determine any blank values that come from the system.

The FREESTYLE PFAS system is available for 2 further FREESTYLE configurations:
FREESTYLE SPE  PFAS loaded with 3 racks | © LCTech GmbH
Automated Determination of PFAS in up to 100 mL Samples via SPE

Alongside large-volume water samples, the FREESTYLE PFAS system is also offered for samples with smaller volumes (without the XANA module): FREESTYLE SPE-PFAS

The SPE module can be used for all methods in the field of solid phase extraction. Through the controlled application of up to 4 bars of pressure, viscose samples or samples that do not contain solid suspended particles can also be pushed through the SPE column.

FREESTYLE XANA PFAS loades | © LCTech GmbH
Automated Determination of PFAS in 250 mL Water Samples

With the FREESTYLE XANA PFAS TableTop, the automated clean-up of PFAS from a maximum of thirty water samples per sequence of up to 250 mL is possible quickly and without supervision, even at the weekend or overnight. 

A high sample throughput per day can be achieved by interlacing individual, time-consuming process steps and processing up to 6 samples in parallel. 

Do you have any further questions?

The LCTech experts are happy to provide you with individual solutions.