Digester

Digesters break down samples into their basic constituents for analysis. The digester is a self-contained circulation type pulping pressure vessel system. Although they function in a similar fashion to biological digestion, the constituents are not used for food, rather for study. Sample digestion is often involved in hunts for trace metals, to prepare for such analyses as atomic absorption or inductively coupled plasma spectroscopy. The two most common types of digesters are those that function via acid digestion or microwave digestion (although custom, specialized, and proprietary technologies are available).