Issue Date: 2008-07-12 Revision No.: 0 Page: 1 of 6 Issuing Authorities Lily R. Molina Date : 2008-07-12 Laboratory Manager Jennine Rose Altoveros Date : 2008-07-12 Quality Assurance Officer Revision History Revision Number Prepared by (print, sign, date) Approved by (print, sign, date) Comments Effective Date 0 JRAltoveros LMolina 2008-07-12 1 2 3 4 5 Distribution List ASL Soil Preparation Facilities ( Drying Room, Grinding Room) ASL Secretary s Office ASL Asst. Manager II ASL website
Issue Date: 2008-07-12 Revision No.: 0 Page: 2 of 6 ASL s Soil Processing Facilities are located at the Annex, ground floor level of the Kenzo Hemmi Bldg. All requests for the use of these facilities must be e- mailed to ASL Asst. Manager II, Lily Molina (l.molina@cgiar.org) at least one week before the date of use. The facilities are provided free of charge for samples for submission to ASL. The request should specify the facility, preferred dates, number and size of samples, and purpose. Priority System Requests are handled on a first-come-first-served basis. Client will be notified by ASL thru e-mail and/or by phone once request for the use of facility is approved. A maximum of 2 weeks (10 working days) will be allowed for each approved ASL client to avail the use of the facilities. Facilities 1. Soil Drying Room (Rm.146) 2. Soil Grinding Room (Rm.148) To prevent sample contamination, plant & soil sample preparation facilities are separated and they should only be used for their intended purposes. New users should request one of the ASL personnel to instruct them on the proper use and care of the facilities. All users are expected to observe good housekeeping and must notify ASL staff of any problem encountered during their use of the facilities. Soil Drying Room (Rm.146) Procedure: 1. The key to this room is available upon request at ASL. Log in name of users in the key borrower s log book located at ASL.
Issue Date: 2008-07-12 Revision No.: 0 Page: 3 of 6 2. Wet soil samples should be placed in a plastic or stainless steel tray and spread out thinly on the tray. If the soil is dry enough to be broken into small pieces, it should be reduced to pebble-size bits to hasten drying. 3. Label the trays properly and place in the soil drying room where the temperature is kept below 40 o C 4. Users must log in their names, # of soil samples, # of stainless steel rack being used, and date/schedule of use on the log sheet provided inside the room. 5. Kabesilya workers (KW) must be accompanied by the researcher- or RTin charge throughout the duration of the use of the room. Strict compliance is required; otherwise it will be reported to the OU Head and KW Coordinator. 6. Users must immediately remove their dried soil samples to accommodate other users. 7. Return the key to ASL and log out in the log book for key borrowers. Soil Grinding Room (Rm.148) Safety Precautions: Wear the correct PPE (hearing protectors, dust mask and eye goggles). Wear safety shoes or any closed toe shoes while using the facility. Observe all safety and operating instructions supplied. Keep all equipment clean to avoid contaminating one sample with another. Coarse Soil Grinding using Rukhuhia Grinder Dried soil should be ground to 2 mm size using the Rukhuhia grinder (RG). This grinder consists of stainless steel cylinders with 2 mm circular bores. The soil is placed inside the cylinders and 2 pestles are placed inside the cylinder to press on the soil while the cylinder is being rotated. Small particles goes out of the
Issue Date: 2008-07-12 Revision No.: 0 Page: 4 of 6 holes to a stainless steel receiving tray. At least 300 g coarse soil sample is required for submission to ASL. Procedure: 1. Record all the needed information in the Soil Grinding logbook divided into sections for Rukhuhia Grinder #1,Rukhuhia Grinder #2, and Pascall Grinder). 2. Thoroughly clean the grinder. Brush and vacuum the trays, pestles and check the perforated cylinders for any clogged soil material. 3. Open the faucet of the dust collector located outside (at the back of the new shower room just below the small grey steel door). 4. Turn ON the following: 5. Water sprayer located at the right side of Rukhuhia Grinder #2 (with label). 6. Dust collector switch marked 1 for Rukhuhia Grinder #1 (left side of the enclosure, color grey, steel door) or 2 for Rukhuhia Grinder #2 (left side of the enclosure, color grey, fiberglass door). 7. Open the door of the Rukhuhia Grinder by rotating the steel use as lock attached to the door of the enclosure (to unlock it, it must be pointing downward and to lock it, it must be pointing upward), push the door upward and secure it with the steel hinge attached at the upper right side of the grinder enclosure. 8. Remove the grinding cylinders with pestles from the rollers. 9. Open the perforated cylinders by slipping the horizontal bar off the locking knobs. 10. Place the soil to about 1/3 the height of the perforated cylinder. 11. Put the 2 uneven size steel pestles inside the perforated cylinder. 12. Close the perforated cylinders by rotating the horizontal bar until it sits securely on the locking knobs. 13. Place the perforated cylinders on the two rotating bars. See to it that it sits securely on the bars. 14. Adjust the position of the receiving tray to receive most of the soil that will fall from the perforated cylinders. 15. Repeat procedures 2 to 14 for the other cylinders to be used. 16. Close the door of the Rukhuhia Grinder enclosure. 17. Press START button of the grinder. 18. Press STOP button when all the soil has been ground. 19. Open the glass door of the enclosure and secure it with a steel hinge.
Issue Date: 2008-07-12 Revision No.: 0 Page: 5 of 6 20. Remove the trays and transfer the ground soil sample into the labelled coin envelope. 21. Repeat procedures 2 to 20 for the next set of soil samples. 22. Switch OFF the water sprayer and dust collector for the grinder used (see procedure 5 for location). 23. Close the faucet of the dust collector (see procedure 3). 24. Clean grinder well, remove waste from the vacuum cleaner, wipe/clean the room after grinding. 25. Return the room keys to ASL and log out in the key borrower s logbook. Fine Soil Grinding using Pascall Grinder Usually only a small amount of the soil is needed for fine grinding. Once the soil has been ground to fine powder, it cannot be used for analyses of available elements. Therefore, one should take only an aliquot of the bulk sample for fine soil. At least 20 g of fine soil sample must be submitted to ASL for analysis. Procedure: 1. Prepare your labels. 2. Mix the soil thoroughly. 3. Lift the pestle of the Pascall grinder from the mortar and clean the mortar and the pestle by wiping with a clean piece of cloth or paper towel. 4. Spoon out an aliquot (about 10g) of 2mm sample and place in the mortar. Lower the pestle gently. 5. Switch ON for 5 to 10 min or until the soil is finely ground. (See sample provided). Time of grinding depends on the type of soil. 6. Place the sample in labeled coin envelopes after grinding. 7. Clean the grinder thoroughly with clean cloth before placing the next sample. 8. After processing all your samples, unplug the grinder, wipe the mortar and pestle with clean wet cloth after grinding. Wipe dry. 9. Clean grinder well, remove waste from the vacuum cleaner, wipe/clean the room after grinding. 10. Return the room keys to ASL and log out in the key borrower s logbook.
Issue Date: 2008-07-12 Revision No.: 0 Page: 6 of 6 The ff. sample preparation information is required in the charge slip: Device used for grinding Who did the grinding When grinding was done Any hazard information Request for Analysis at ASL Online request for analysis is available at ASL website (http://swsdsrv1/lims/). You may create your ASL account and submit your request online.