CHAPTER H 



THE SHIPBOARD CHEMISTRY LABORATORY 



H-1 General. — Shipboard chemistry employed 

 in the analysis of sea watex' samples is basically 

 the same as that carried out ashore. The sea- 

 going chemist, however, works under certain 

 diiEculties and is subjected to some liazards that 

 do not plague his shore based counterpart. Ob- 

 viously he must be constantly alert to prevent 

 damage to delicate equipment, resulting from 

 ship's motion, with possible injury to himself 

 and his shipmates. He must have sea racks to 

 stow many types of glassware, chemicals, 

 samples, and apparatus. His laboratory space 

 is, of necessity, limited and must be used to the 

 utmost. Efficient arrangement of equipment will 

 reduce unnecessary work and is vital to the 

 analyst and his assistants who may be working 

 in teams to keep ahead of a backlog of samples. 



H-2 Laboratory Furniture. — The properly 

 equipped laboratory requires workbenches, 

 storage cabinets, drawers, racks, shelves, tables, 

 sinks, adequate lighting, and a ventilation and 

 temperature control system. Workbenches 

 should be of the proper height (approximately 

 36 inches) for laboratory work. The bench tops 

 must be of acidproof composition. This may be 

 commercial laboratory bench topping or heavy 

 wood top coated with black acid-resistant paint. 

 Storage cabinets and drawers should be com- 

 partmented to prevent excess motion of stored 

 materials. They should be equipped with ade- 



auate retaining devices to prevent them from 

 ying open during heavy seas. Shelves are nec- 

 essary over the areas on the workbenches and 

 tables where chemical titrations are run. These 

 shelves should be fitted with sea racks to hold 

 the large bottles or carboys of standard solutions 

 to which the titration burettes are connected. A 

 table, or a table-height (about 30 inches) por- 

 tion of the workbench is necessary for titrations 

 and other analyses that the analyst must run 

 while seated. The laboratory must have one or 

 more sinks. One sink must be big enough to 

 wash large pieces of glassware and small ocean- 

 ographic insti-uments. The sinks should be 

 stainless steel and must have acidproof drain- 

 boards, drains, traps, pipes, seacocks, and over- 

 board discharge outlets. They should be fur- 

 nished with hot and cold fresh-water taps and 

 a saltwater tap. 



It is recommended that the laboratory deck 

 be covered with acidproof paint or an acid re- 

 sistant plastic (vinyl) tile and be provided with 

 drainage facilities. 



In addition, the laboratory should be equipped 

 with numerous regulated voltage electrical 

 outlets. Compressed air and vacuum lines also 

 are desirable. 



H-3 Water Purification Apparatus. — The 



pure water used so much in carrying out almost 

 all shipboard analyses of sea water samples is 

 prepared by either distillation or demineraliza- 

 tion. Distillation changes the water into steam 

 and thus separates it from dissolved solids. Also, 

 gases and other transient substances escape into 

 the atmosphere to produce a distillate with a 

 high degree of purity. Electrical distilling ap- 

 paratus will provide sufficient distilled water, 

 using fresh water from the ship's tanks, on those 

 ships equipped with steam evaporators. Such 

 a still produces very pure water when properly 

 operated in accordance with the instructions 

 provided by the manufacturer ; however, owing 

 to the large thermal input required in distilla- 

 tion, the cost is considerably greater than the 

 cost of producing distilled water by the demin- 

 eralization process. 



Demineralization removes cations and anions 

 by treatment with ion exchange resins. A resin- 

 type demineralizer, utilizing the fresh water 

 from the ship's evaporators, will deliver water 

 of sufficient purity for most requirements. 



H-4 Miscellaneous Laboratory Equip- 

 ment. — The shipboard chemistry laboratory is 

 furnished with a large variety of miscellaneous 

 laboratory equipment. The following list of 

 equipment will serve as a guide for equipping a 

 shipboard laboratory although it must Ibe kept 

 in mind that requirements vary considerably for 

 different projects and surveys : 



Apron, laboratoi-y. 



Barometer, Aneroid. 



Beaker, Griffin low form, glass* or plastic, 

 with pourout, capacity: 50, 100, 250, 400, 

 600, 800, 1,000, and 2,000 ml. 



Balance, triple beam, accurate to 0.1 g. 



Bottle, wash, plastic. 



Brush, bottle. Assorted sizes. 



Bucket, plastic, 2 to 3 gal. 



H-1 



