Differential Thermo-Analyzer (DTA)

Function

Measurement of thermal properties of a sample to determine its composition: abundance of sorbed and hydrated water, mineralogical characteristics (chemical composition, crystallization etc.)

Description

The main registration technique, used in DTA instrument, is measurement of the sample temperature and/or power consumed by the instrument heating cell during the heating with the specified rate. The feedback, controlling the heater, is controlled with the electronic imitation of the reference material. Selection of sensitivity and measurement range depends on tasks and conditions of specific project.

The mass of DTA is less than 1 kg (for the instrument without the gas-collecting equipment). During short heating pulse (< 1 min) the peak power is up to 25 W; otherwise the power is consumed only for the data processing.

The instrument is developed for the Russian project Phobos-Grunt.

Main characteristics of a heater

Temperature range                                            < 1000 °Ñ

Heating rate                                                       0.2–1.0 K/s

Time of analysis                                                     ~10 min

Volume of samples                                              ~0.05 ml

Heater power                                                             ~15 W

Heater mass                                                          < 40 g

Contacts

Laboratory for direct physical and chemical studies of planets
M. Gerasimov, Head of Laboratory +7(495)333-11-55, Mgerasim@iki.rssi.ru
G. Dolnikov +7(495)333-25-66, ggd@iki.rssi.ru