Chris,

        Ty Coplen of the USGS lab wrote me this note about how they
use the Hokko beads.  Ty's lab is one of the worlds most respected labs and
he has been using HD/H2O equilibration for a long time.  He would be willing
to try out our catalyst as a comparison if we send him some, I think this is
a good idea rather than depending on Micromass as the only source of
comparison (especially if you are going to present a paper on it this Jan).
Also, he is not interested in developing new techniques, rather how well
the stuff works; and a seal of approval from him would be very welcome.
Ty's lab is a high production lab, thus he is interested keeping the time
needed to turn over samples to a minimum.  Note, his lab only deals with
water samples not wines, urines, etc...

        I think we should make sure we know the score with the stuff
at Micromass (maybe the 3M beads would be better etc....) and then send
the best one or two to Ty to try (that's too tied up a sentance!).

Bob


>We use the fine Hokko beads glued on to glass rods using bath tub
>silicone II, the stuff at the hardware store.  They last a long
>time (year to years) and are very easy to use.  Just pull them
>out with a tweezers.  Sixty samples prepared in 2.5 hours by technician.
>Send To:
>U.S. Geological Survey
>Attn:  T. Coplen
>431 National Center
>12201 Sunrise Valley Drive
>Reston, Virginia 20192
>USA
>Tyler B Coplen II, Research Chemist, Reston, VA " <[log in to unmask]>