Ashing  —the process of removing organic material from a sample before analysis — is the focus of a blog post by Thermcraft Inc., Winston-Salem, N.C., that seeks to uncover insights into this step in the sample-testing process.

Ashing often is the first step during the analysis of inorganics in organic samples such as petroleum, plastic and biological samples, the team at Thermcraft notes. Widely used in the food and petroleum industries, two techniques commonly are employed: wet ashing and dry ashing.

• Wet ashing removes organic material from a sample using a liquid-phase reactant.
• Dry ashing is achieved through the controlled combustion of a sample in air. Samples are heated in air, which causes oxidation and removal of organic material from the sample.

Ashing tests of coal and coke are defined within standard test method ISO 1171.

Read the full blog post here.