As used herein, a pH titration involves the incremental addition of a standard acid to a carefully measured quantity of aqueous solution during which pH values and the aliquots of reagent added are recorded. A titration curve is a plot of these data. The titration curve is invaluable in determining the equivalence point in a pH titration. One problem encountered in the analysis of certain materials is that of preparing a diluted sample of the material, when the material to be analyzed must be dissolved at elevated temperatures. For example, titration analysis can be valuable in determining the mole percent ratio of titratable species in a process for preparing sodium sulfide solutions by reacting sodium hydroxide with sodium hydrosulfide, provided the reaction material can be dissolved in a solution for titration analysis.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide method and apparatus suitable for titration analysis of materials which dissolve only at elevated temperature.
Another object of this invention is to provide an apparatus and method for diluting a highly viscous and corrosive sample material.
Still another object of this invention is to provide an apparatus for sample handling with heating and cooling.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide an apparatus and method for automatic, unattended dilution of a highly viscous and corrosive sample material.