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Scoville high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) unit. Used to measure the amount capsaicinoids in chili peppers.
Fullsize image: https://diqn32j8nouaz.cloudfront.net...r_fullsize.jpg
https://diqn32j8nouaz.cloudfront.net...lle_tester.jpg
Previously:
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...102#post207492
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...788#post175051
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...639#post212635
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...523#post139364
Someone's been watching First We Feast.
My first 'real' job after College was doing HPLC analyses (albeit in my case it was analyzing metabolites of nitrosamine aromatic hydrocarbons as suspected carcinogens). My first task when I started in that labe was to refurbish a pair of Waters pumps just like those. (they're the boxes on the right hand side there. The thing with the CRT is the pump controller, then the detector. I cannot honestly tell what it is, might be a uv absorbtion detector or it might be a fluorescence detector, then the two pumps with the sample injector between them. The actual chromatography column is the ~6" tube in the front of the detector.)
The pumps have nearly solid stainless steel cylinders; the pistons are man-made sapphire about 2 mm in diameter that fit through seals in the cylinder heads, and replacing the seals is a delicate operation; you have to line up the cylinder just right and seat it, or you can break the piston off.
They make a tiny 'tink' noise when they do...guess how I know!
Our labs had a wonderful 'instrument' guy who kinda took me under his wing, taught me a lot.
Also that bit about 'only the third comany in the US' must refer to whatever food company that was using it; Waters had been making HPLC systems since the late 60's and by 1985 they were very common. My setup was actually an old hand-me-down from a previous researcher, and ISTR the color scheme was not that beighe that later typified Waters instruments.
My detector was an expensive (and finicky) electrochemical detector.
IIRC (this was ~1984 or so, and my chemistry has rusted considerably since!) I was measuring redox potential of aromatic nitrosamines in the 5 picoamp range. I ended up building a makeshift faraday cage around the entire apparatus to shield it from extraneous current; I could deflect the chart recorder quite a bit by just touching any of the tubing.