Teflon Flow Cell for Aggressive Chemistries

Guided Wave’s Teflon^® Flow Cell was developed for sample streams that are either extremely corrosive or intolerant to metal contamination. None of the cell's wetted parts are constructed of metal. Only Teflon and sapphire surfaces contact the process stream. Otherwise, the Teflon Flow Cell utilizes the same optical components as our popular Multi-Purpose Flow Cell. Corrosion resistant stainless steel is used in the outer cell construction to maintain a rigid, stable optical pathlength. Hence, it has the same high optical efficiency. Plus, it is guaranteed not to leak!

Quality is in the Design

Teflon^® not only "cold flows", but has a very large temperature coefficient of expansion. To maintain the all-important optical path length, stainless steel rods are embedded in the Teflon body. The windows and other precision optics are held rigidly in place by these rods, thus, preventing even the slightest change to the critical pathlength during the normal expansion and contraction that naturally occurs with Teflon products. The chemical measurement accuracy is therefore not impaired. If necessary, the cell can be completely disassembled for inspection or deep cleaning. The reassembly step is easily accomplished without changing the critical pathlength. For your convenience, the Teflon Flow Cell is equipped with a clean-out port that provides access to the internal sapphire windows for cleaning without disconnecting fibers or piping.

Process-Resistant Construction

Since no metal parts come in contact with the liquid stream, the design is ideal for processes where even parts-per-billion levels of metals contamination can create serious problems, as in semiconductor etching and cleaning steps. The cell also performs well in the presence of extremely corrosive streams containing strong acids, bases, peroxides or halogenated compounds. HCl is a good example where most metallic probes cannot be used.

Common Integration with Most Spectrometers

The Teflon^® Flow Cell is compatible with any fiber optic system having SMA 905 connectors. Fibers having a core diameters of 400 µm to 600 µm will provide the best optical performance with this cell.

Operating Range

The Teflon^® Flow Cell operates at moderate temperatures and pressures. Safe upper limits are:

Temperatures to 150 °C
Pressures to 100 psi

Optical Path Lengths

2, 5, 10 and 20 mm
Others up to 250 mm by special request

Exceptional Light Transmission

Like other Guided Wave fiber optic probes, the Teflon^® Flow Cell provides exceptional optical performance. Typical transmission exceeds 50%. That means more signal, lower measurement noise and lower detection limits. The flow cell can be completely dismantled, then reassembled without changing the sampling pathlength, an important feature when working with established NIR calibration models.

Compatible with All Guided Wave Analyzers

The sample interface is a crucial component of a complete fiberoptic based analyzer system. For optimal performance, the probe must be 'optically matched' with both the spectrophotometer or filter photometer, and the fiber optic cable. The Teflon Flow Cell provides consistently high performance when used in combination with our analyzers and fiber.

Specifications

Wetted Materials	Teflon, sapphire
Windows	Sapphire
Non-wetted metallic parts	316SS
Path lengths	2, 5, 10, 20 mm
Max. pressure	100 psi
Spectral range	400-2100 nm (200-100 nm optional)
Efficiency	>45% (800-1650 nm)
Max. continuous operating temperature	150 ºC
Fiber connections	SMA 905
Pipe connection	1/2" FNPT or 1/2" tube fitting

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