IPB University Will Receive Laboratory Equipment from KKBC Japan

After partnering with Japan's Environmental Analysis Center, Kankyou-Koagai Bunseki Centa (KKBC) in January, IPB University will gradually receive several laboratory equipment. The equipments are ICP-AES, Gas Chromatography (GC), Ion Chromatography and CHNS Auto Analyzer or X-Ray Diffractometer.

This was conveyed by the Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture, IPB University, Dr. Suwardi in Dramaga Campus, Bogor (19/6). According to him, ICP-AES can be used to measure the elements in soil, water, and plants simultaneously and very quickly. GC tools are used to measure volatile organic compounds and inorganic compounds in a mixture. This tool is important for measuring levels of home gases such as methane (CH₄), nitrogen oxide (N₂O) and others.

Ion Chromatography or more known as HPLC is an important tool to measure the molecule or compound in a solution. The soluble compounds in the mobile phase will pass through the column in the stationery phase. Through this way, many types of molecules can be separated based on their movements in the column. CHNS is a tool to measure the C, H, and N level in one shot, while X-ray is used to identify the clay mineral in the soil.
"This collaboration between IPB University and KKBC includes the assistance of laboratory equipment for environmental analysis especially for soil, water, air, and plants. Training for IPB Faperta analysts in Japan and research related to the environment are also the part of the collaboration," he said. For this reason, before this equipment was sent to Indonesia, Faperta IPB University had sent two analysts to undergo training in Japan for six months. They are Syahra Maretzka Labina Putri from the Department of Soil Science and Land Resources and Wiwit Prihadini from the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture.

“The two analysts have been in Japan since May 18^th 2019. After returning to Indonesia, the analysts will operate the tools sent to IPB University. During their training in Japan, they also got Japanese language, tools operation skill, and tools maintenance trainings. After they return, there will be two more analyst to receive the same trainings,” he said.

With the help of these tools and training the analysts, it is expected that soil, water, air, and plant samples from lecturers, students, and also from the society will be more quickly analyzed and more accurate.

According to him, all this time the obstacle that is often expereienced is the limitation of the measurement tools so the researchers must wait a long time to get the measurement results. With the presence of these new equipment and skilled analyst, hopefully the obstacles can be overcomed.