The Elemental Analysis Clinic
- Duration: 1 day for live courses
- Experience level: Intermediate
- Delivery methods: Face-to-face | Offsite training & consultancy | Online | Onsite training & consultancy | Tailored training |
- Type of course: Universal
- Applicable to manufacturer(s): Agilent | Thermo |
- CPD Approved: Not yet approved
- Scheduled course price: £425.00 + TAX per delegate
- Course discounts: RSC HEaTED Cambridge Network CAMS members receive a discount on this course
Your advanced method development, maintenance, troubleshooting, and problem-solving for elemental analysis
Day 3 of the Complete Elemental Analysis.
The Elemental Analysis Clinic is a 1-day classroom-based course designed for professionals, students and chemists who are seeking to enhance their ability to develop robust analytical methods, maintain instrument performance, troubleshoot challenging problems, and optimise elemental analysis workflows. This training focuses on the practical and scientific understanding required when routine approaches are no longer sufficient and a deeper knowledge of elemental analysis is needed. Based on elemental analysis method development, instrument maintenance, and troubleshooting, you will gain the skills required to develop fit-for-purpose methods, maximise instrument performance, reduce downtime, and confidently diagnose complex analytical issues.
Whether you are developing new methods, optimising existing workflows, maintaining analytical equipment, investigating performance issues, or working with challenging sample matrices, this course provides practical strategies to help you achieve better analytical outcomes.
Why should I join?
This course provides a structured approach to elemental analysis method development, maintenance, and troubleshooting, helping you understand why problems occur, how to prevent them, and how to optimise analytical performance, giving you:
- A systematic approach to developing, optimising, and troubleshooting elemental analysis methods
- An advanced understanding of the factors influencing analytical performance, sensitivity, accuracy, and reproducibility
- Knowledge of preventative maintenance strategies that minimise instrument downtime and maximise reliability
- Practical guidance on diagnosing contamination, interferences, leaks, blockages, instability, and sensitivity loss
- Understanding of how instrument components interact and influence method performance
- Knowledge of quality assurance, validation, and performance monitoring strategies
- A valuable opportunity to develop higher-level troubleshooting and analytical decision-making skills
What would I learn?
This course focuses on advanced method development, maintenance, optimisation, and analytical problem solving, you will learn:
- How to define analytical objectives and select the most appropriate elemental analysis approach
- How to design, plan and implement a structured method development workflow
- How to optimise sample introduction systems, including autosamplers, nebulisers, and spray chambers
- How instrumental parameters influence atomic absorption, emission, and ionisation processes
- The principles of method performance, including sensitivity, selectivity, accuracy, precision, and detection limits
- The key maintenance requirements for AAS, ICP-OES and ICP-MS instrumentation
- How to maintain gas delivery systems, regulators, filters, traps, and plumbing components
- How to clean, inspect and maintain components such as torches, spray chambers, graphite furnaces, and vacuum systems
- How to interpret tuning reports, performance checks, and system suitability results
- A structured troubleshooting workflow including problem identification, fault isolation, corrective action, and preventive measures
- How to diagnose contamination, memory effects, interferences, leaks, blockages, and consumable wear
What knowledge will I gain?
By the end of the course, you will:
- Understand the complete elemental analysis process from method development through to routine operation and troubleshooting
- Understand how to systematically optimise elemental analysis methods for improved sensitivity and robustness
- Know how to maximise analytical performance while minimising contamination, analyte losses, and instrument downtime
- Understand the maintenance requirements of AAS, ICP-OES and ICP-MS systems and their impact on analytical performance
- Be able to recognise common causes of instability, poor reproducibility, sensitivity loss, and instrument failure
- Be able to identify whether analytical problems originate from the sample, method, instrument, or data system
- Understand calibration strategies and the determination of detection, quantitation, and reporting limits
- Gain confidence in interpreting tuning data, performance reports, and troubleshooting indicators
- Develop the expertise required to diagnose, prevent, and resolve challenging elemental analysis problems
Is this course for me?
This elemental analysis training course is designed for anyone who would like advanced knowledge of method development, maintenance and troubleshooting across elemental analysis techniques.
- Laboratory analysts and technicians using elemental analysis techniques
- Laboratory or line managers overseeing elemental analysis instruments and workflows
- Data analysts and report writers who work with elemental analysis results
- Service engineers who want a chemistry-focused understanding of elemental analysis systems
- Sales, commercial or marketing teams who work with elemental analysis instruments, components or services and would like more in-depth technical knowledge
If elemental analysis touches your work in any way, this comprehensive course delivered by experts in the field equips you to understand the science behind these techniques.
