Wednesday 4 April 2018

Types of Refractometers

A refractometer greatly helps in measuring the refractive index of any substance. Be it fluid or solid material including gem stones, or any other solid substance. It also helps in measuring the speed of light through a fluid medium with great accuracy. The best thing about a refractometer is that you can buy many kinds of refractometers which you can get online as well as in stores which sell laboratory equipment. Following are different types of refractometers you can buy:

Handheld refractometer: 
These refractometers are small and very handy in use. The hand refractometer is an analog lab equipment for measuring a liquid's refractive index. You can take the hand refractometer anywhere, be it a field setting or working from home. Because of its small size, it is easy to carry as well as it is convenient to use in any kind of work setting. It has multiple uses including testing the refractive index of wine or even antifreeze. It is also necessary to use an automatic temperature compensation which will help to efficiently use the refractometer. You can also buy a hand refractometer very easily from online or offline stores. If you buy hand refractometer online, you will get variety in the product as well as prices.

Digital Handheld refractometer: 
The digital refractometer very much works on the same principle as the handheld refractometer. It works on the principle of critical angle. However, the difference is that the digital refractometer is generally more precise and might need more amount of sample to give an accurate rating. It also shows the precise value which is difficult to record in a normal handheld refractometer.

Abbe refractometer: 
This was developed by Ernst Abbe. This was the first laboratory refractometer ever produced by him. It is not easy to carry for field work because of its size but for lab settings it gives very accurate and precise value for the refractive index. It is also a little more difficult to use than the handheld refractometer and the digital refractometer. It is now also available with digital technology. However, the digital version is not capable enough to measure the readings on solid samples, even though it is much more efficient and better than the analog refractometer.

Inline process refractometer: 
As the name suggests, this kind of refractometer is used to measure the readings for continuous measurement of liquid flowing through a tank or even a pipe. It helps in industrial work like refining, food, sugar processing and pharmaceutical industries. In addition to measuring the refractive index, it also measures the temperature of the processing medium. Hence it is widely used in industries and labs.

All of these four refractometers have specific function to serve. One should buy the refractometer as per their requirement. It is important to be aware of different types of refractometers in order to make an informed decision. All of them do measure refractive index but for different substances and different work settings, as mentioned above.


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