2. C. Gerhardt GmbH, Königswinter
SALES TRAINING
DUMATHERM
COMPETITION
LECO Corp.
St. Joseph, Michigan, USA
Dr. Werner Küppers
C. Gerhardt GmbH, Königswinter 2

3. TOPICS LECO competition Company profile and history
Product range of LECO
Truespec N as direct competition
Principle
Features and benefits
Comparison with DUMATHERM
Summary in table form 3

4. DUMATHERM – Keyfeatures
We are the fastest
We have less maintenance
We have the easiest up-to-date technology
Helium technology allows lowest nitrogen contents 4

5. Combustion technology easy and straightforward
Combustion of samples with pure oxygen
Reduction of all nitrogen oxides
Easy separation of CO2 and H2O
Analysis of resulting gases with a thermal conductivity detector
Detector
Nafion
tubing
Combustion
Reduction
CO2 Adsorbers 5
Connector tubing

6. COMBUSTION PRINCIPLE Must be separated ! Oxidation: CnHmNx + a O2
n CO2 + ½ m H2O + x N-Oxides
Must be separated !
Combustion of samples with pure oxygen (i.e. system must be purged to get rid of air)
Remaining ash must be separated
Reduction of all nitrogen oxides
Separation of CO2 and H2O
Analysing of resulting gases with a thermal conductivity detector 6

7. Laboratory Equipment Corporation
LECO Corp.
Laboratory Equipment Corporation
St. Joseph, Michigan, USA
DUMATHERM
COMPETITION

8. LECO Truespec N
Long history of combustion instruments since 1936 with an estimated market share of approximately 50% or more
TruespecN is the end of a long history of models in the combustion field
LECO is a specialist in carbon analysis with a focus on steel industry
Food and feed instruments were added in the early 90s to complete the product range
available since 2004

9. LECO Principle Combustion with high excess of oxygen
Separation of dust with two filters
Separation of water
Collection of gases in ballast volume
Aliquot of 2 ml is taken out and transported to the detector after passing some more scrubbers
Brochure FP-2000

10. LECO Autosampler
LECO Autosampler (silver) compared with our (black) plate
Who can put more sample weight into his autosampler ?

11. How to put in1gram into a LECO ?
LECO autosampler with a tin foil ball with 500 mg of milk powder
Impossible to analyse !!!

12. Combustion Principle LECO
Oxidation with tremendous excess of oxygen:
950 °C
CnHmNx ml O2
x N-Oxides
Combustion is ALWAYS done with 4500 ml oxygen, not looking at the sample type (no difference between 5 mg EDTA or 1000 mg of animal feed)
We use e.g. 100 ml oxygen for 100 mg EDTA which saves 4400 liter gas
Handling oxygen lance: breaks often and has to be connected to the flange on top
Ash insert is a porous ceramic crucible 12

13. LECO Combustion Tube / Old Type
Tube is firmly fixed in the furnace and difficult to be taken out
Furnace has to be almost cool for exchanging tubes
While taking it out it is easily destroyed
Material inside is just for filtering off the dust particles from the combustion
LECO combustion

14. LECO Combustion Tube / New
U-shaped tube cracks often and is difficult to mount and dismount
More O-rings=more leaks
Oxygen lance must be fixed very complicated at the lance holder and cracks very often during this operation (costs 350 Euro)
Crucible: 210 Euro
Trapping material is to absorb the dust during combustion

15. DUMATHERM: Combustion Tubes
Easy to handle
Exchange in hot status possible
Only two o-rings for fixation and for sealing
Oxygen dosing is done according to the sample weight (200 mg EDTA = 200 ml oxygen)
1:1 dosing results in less dust

16. Separation of Dust with LECO
Combustion at lower temperature and with high excess of oxygen causes problems with dust
Dust filters are needed
Extra filter is mounted in the furnace
The dust from the combustion is separated to a large amount
Dust filter trap must be emptied and refilled by the customer (hazardous powders)

17. Ballast Volume and Aliquot Valve
Ballast tank collects all combustion gases
Aliquot valve takes out a loop of 2 ml from 4500 ml (0.04 %) and ONLY 2 ml are analysed with the detector
This operation is needed, because these 4400 ml non-consumed oxygen would oxidise the copper for reduction completely during one analysis
Ballast tank must be calibrated according to the surrounding air pressure. This calibration must be adjusted day by day
Ballast control needs 9 additional valves
Aliquot Valve with 2 ml loop

18. Ballast Volume LECO
Gases should be filtered befor entering the ballast volume
Effectivity of dust traps is very poor, because dust particles are always passing the traps into the ballast volume which makes frequently cleaning and volume calibration necessary
More sample weight = more dust = MUCH more maintenance!
Used and brand new ballast volume

19. Water Absorber LECOSORB
No specialty, just sodium hydroxide on a little bit of silica support
Hazardous consumable
Customer has to refill the trap every week

20. Electronics and Structure
Old fashioned and not up to date electronics with touch panel and keyboard at the instrument e.g. in the FP-2000
In general, electronic boards are not protected in a separated area
Cables everywhere in this chaotic construction !!

21. DUMATHERM Electronics
Clear structure
One mainboard
Easy to understand
Electronics separated from the rest of the instrument …

22. Detector with LECO
Old fashioned and not up to date detection technology based on the wheatstone resistance bridge principle
Measuring gas flow and reference gas flow MUST be kept 100% constant
Once again: chaotic construction

23. Detector Calibration LECO
Data series for the calibration [in mg Aspartic acid or EDTA] :
1, 2, 3, 5, 7.5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 50, 75, 100, 125, 150, 175, 200, 250, 300, 350
Daily Routine LECO:
Two calibration standards are measured after the system has stabilized and the result is taken to shift the calibration upwards or downwards. System must be perfectly stable within this period.
DUMATHERM:
5-8 points

24. SPEED: We are the fastest !
Based on the ballast volume principle, LECO has to fill the 4.5 litre ballast volume with every sample or blank value.
This takes always the same time while we adjust the combustion time on the sample weight (i.e. less sample weight means less analysis time, e.g. 100 mg EDTA = 15 s
No nitrogen analyser can do a nitrogen determination based on a reference method faster than DUMATHERM in about 3 minutes
„Duma“ is the Kisuaheli expression for „cheetah“, the worlwide fastest animal on land 24

25. COSTS Never ending list of O-rings of different sizes and materials
Single parts expensive (service kits available)
Often LECO service is needed for the change of those parts
Service expensive
35 valves (we have only 10!)

26. Maintenance to be done by customer
O-Rings reference card with 26 different types DUMATHERM: just 4 different o-rings > 6 times less
Taken from the service manual for Truespec N

27. Spare Parts and Service DUMATHERM vs. Truespec
No other instrument worldwide has less parts in the spare part catalogue than we have
E.g. LECO has 26 different o-rings in the Truespec, DUMATHERM needs only 4!
No other instrument worldwide has such a service friendly construction and such a clear structure
Service with LECO can only be done by LECO specialists while DUMATHERM can be maintained by the customer
No other instrument worldwide has less articles in the spare part catalogue
LECO has a never ending list of spare parts
No other instrument worldwide can be installed in the morning and gives good analytical results in the afternoon
LECO needs a set-up-time of 2-3 days at least bevor starting the first EDTA… 27

28. … Disadvantages of LECO
Routine work on a LECO: If the combustion tube needs replacement you have to cool down the system and you need a full tool kit, which means that you are off for hours.
Customer experience:Very few people have a “comfortable” experience with LECO these days. They used to be very close to their customers and form strong relationships, but the current ethos leaves people feeling somewhat cheated and facing high costs.
Many users source their consumables and service from third parties because of high LECO prices

29. Striking Arguments against LECO
Compacter DUMATHERM design (65 kg against 130 kg)
Clearer construction easy to understand allows well-founded customer training within one day.
Analysis of all combustion gases and not only an aliquot is analysed after passing the ballast volume
Maintenance free parts for water and carbon dioxide separation whereas LECO uses traps which must be emptied frequently
Low service and maintenance costs due to well-thought construction
Truespec must be kept ON to prevent long set-up-times after restarting the unit
20 times more oxygen consumption in every analysis, even with blanks
Gas dilution causes massive problems with low nitrogen ranges (e.g. < 0.1% N) 29

30. LECO only sells instruments because of their historic position
DUMATHERM is the better instrument, it is
reliable, precise, easy to use and to maintain

31. Easy principle and only 10 valves!
Flowchart DUMATHERM
Easy principle and only 10 valves!

32. DUMATHERM Combustion Easy access without further dismounting of parts
No need to cool down the system completely
Well-priced ash inserts with high capacity
Catalyst to support the combustion reaction and avoid dust problems

33. DUMATHERM Bottom Connection
Easy access without further dismounting
Well-priced plastic tubing as the only part to be exchanged
If dust is passing the reactor, it is trapped in the quartz wool

34. Reduction We have the best copper chips with the largest surface
N- oxides N2
copper reduced
We have the best copper chips with the largest surface
More surface = more capacity for reaction
Easy to take out the tube
Easy to refill
Costs acc. to price lists :
LECO g=132 EUR Gerhardt 250g=65 EUR

35. Water Separation with NafionTM
Maintenance free system !
Inside: gas stream with helium, nitrogen, water and carbon dioxide
Membrane: polar and chemical inert material
Specific reaction with water
In-built functional groups, each of them can trap 13 water molecules
Outside: counterflow of pure nitrogen separates 100% of the absorbed water 35

36. News: Water Trap to analyse as well liquid samples
Target: pre-condensation of 95 % of all water with automated drainage controlled by software
Remaining water is separated with Nafion
Easy discharging of separated water
With LECO the water is trapped with Peltier technique befor going into the ballast volume
If the separation was not 100 %, water condensation is found in the ballast volume = cooling down and cleaning is a must
With liquid samples we have now good chances to win against LECO !! 36

37. Direct Comparison of Specifications
Model
LECO TRUSPEC N
DUMATHERM
Positions Autosampler
30 (60, 90, 120)
40 (80, 120)
Possible sample weights
according to brochure
up to 1 g
Typical sample weights in reality mg mg
Detection limit (in mg Nitrogen absolute)
0.01 mg N
0.ic01 mg N
All combustion gases analysed ?
no (aliquot)
yes
Detector
classic TCD
innovative TCD
Daily adjustment of calibration no
Analysis time
4 to 6 minutes
3 to 4 minutes
Number of valves 35 10
Number of o-rings 24 8
Combustion tube
u-shaped quartz with dust filters
straight quartz with catalyst