AN EXPERT-SYSTEM PROGRAM FOR ICP-AES SYSTEM DIAGNOSIS

This article is an electronic publication in Spectrochimica Acta Elect ronica (SAE), the electronic section of Spectrochimica Acta Parr B (SA B). The hardcopy text is accompanied by two diskettes containing the i nstallation program for the application. The main article discusses th e purpose of this work and the Appendix provides instructions on the u se of the program. ICP-AES performance can be followed by monitoring a series of atomic lines. QUID Expert is a Windows based program which uses line intensities from a standard solution in conjunction with a s eries of rules to determine when an ICP-AES is degrading and where the probable fault lies. The software provides other features such as a l ogbook and automatic recording to allow users to monitor system perfor mance over extended times. In the tradition of modern expert systems, QUID Expert provides guidance as to what possible fault(s) might be pr esent in the system and recommends remedial action(s). (C) 1997 Elsevi er Science B.V.