Unknown Substance Testing Services -
Identifying Unknown Materials
SOCOTEC has established itself as a leading specialist in successfully examining and identifying unknown materials such as solids, solvents, deposits, oils and dusts. We provide key information for failure investigations, manufacturing issues and Health & Safety concerns within a wide range of industry sectors.
Characterisation Of Unknowns
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Our rapid identification methods allow you the peace of mind that contaminants will be classified swiftly, reducing process disruption.
Our testing services are frequently used in the following industries:
Manufacturing
- Foreign objects in foods/medical products
- Unknown residues on surfaces
- Machinery problems/failures
- Unknown polymers
- Waste
- Unknown material deliveries
- Unknown deposits in landfill
- Construction
- Unknown materials/dusts
- Petrochemical
- Unknown deposits in fuels/oils/coolants
- Premature failure of fuel/oil filters
Client-focused Approach
Our expert scientists carry out a full client consultation before designing a personalised testing suite to identify your unknown material. SOCOTEC employs a diverse range of selective techniques to characterise the sample, including:
- Optical Microscopy – initial identification
- GC/MS – Gas Chromatography with Mass Spectrometry
- FTIR – Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy
- SEM/EDX – Scanning Electron Microscopy with Energy Dispersive X-ray analysis
After determining the overall composition of the sample, our scientists document a full interpretive report with conclusions.
Read our blog on Identifying the Unknown through Chemical Investigation
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