o The instrument shall include high-sensitivity thermobalance, a vertical nullbalance design for accurate, precise, and reliable weighing of samples. It must be well insulated, electrically grounded, separately gas purged, and thermally isolated from the furnace. This is essential for high performance baseline performance. o The baseline linearity must be (50 to 1000°C) must be <1 µg o The furnace should employ infrared heating with a ceramic IR absorber with a built-in electromagnetic coil for automated temperature calibration. It should also have an internal quartz liner to permit direct operation as an Evolved Gas Analysis (EGA) furnace to handle decomposition products that might adhere to furnace internal features. The furnace design should include a horizontal gas purge system to provide highly accurate and precise control of purge gas flow rate and gas switching capability. o The instrument furnace cooling must be forced Air 1000 °C to 35 °C in < 10 min. o The combined thermobalance and furnace should operate in vacuum of 50 µTorr.
