Conversion of a sequential inductively coupled plasma emission spectrometer into a multichannel simultaneous system using a photodiode array detector.

A monochannel plasma emission spectrometer was converted to a multichannel instrument by the introduction of a detection system based on an array of 1024 photodiodes and a low-resolution dispersion device. The new, relatively inexpensive equipment, features both the high speed typical of simultaneous instruments and the versatility of scanning systems. This paper reports on an evaluation of the modified equipment for quantitative analysis with the simultaneous determination of Al, Mn, Mg, Ca, Fe and Cu in a natural water matrix. An average relative prediction error of 2.4% was found which is the same as the error obtained with the conventional analytical method. Data acquisition with the modified instrument is up to 40 times faster.