Autosampler

An autosampler is commonly a device that is coupled to an analytical instrument providing samples periodically for analysis. An autosampler can also be understood as a device that collects samples periodically from a large sample source, like the atmosphere or a lake, for example.

Autosamplers enable substantial gains in productivity, precision and accuracy in many analytical scenarios, and therefore are widely employed in laboratories.

Autosamplers normally consist of a robotic device that can either bring the sample to a sampling station, or bring a sampling device to the sample that stays on a tray (or carousel) along with other samples.

Autosamplers for liquids work along many kinds of machines that perform different kinds of chemical measurements, like titrators, gas chromatographers, liquid chromatographers, water analyzers (like total carbon analyzers, dissolved inorganic carbon analyzers, nutrient analyzers) and many others.

Many autosamplers for liquids consist of a carousel and the sampling apparatus. The carousel holds the samples, and revolves around its center so that samples change their horizontal position. There may be several concentric rings holding samples in a carousel. The sampling apparatus can be fixed horizontally, only moving up and down to allow the carousel to move, or it can also move horizontally, depending on the design of the system. The sampling apparatus in most of such autosamplers consist of a needle connected to a remote pumping syringe via tubing. Similar designs have been employed for titrators, which do not have a sampling apparatus, but a titration apparatus.

Another common design for autosamplers for liquids is of a sampling apparatus that moves freely in the 3D space, similarly to CNC routers and 3D printers, for instance. The sampling apparatus, in these autosamplers, can also be simply a needle, as for most carousel autosamplers, or it can be a compete syringe, thus dispensing the need for a remote pump. This kind of design is appropriate for small sample volumes (in the order of tens of microliters), commonly used in gas chromatography, for example.

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