World leader in thermal desorption for GC
Founded in 1997, Markes International is the world leader in technology for analytical thermal desorption for gas chromatography – technology that samples and concentrates trace-level volatile organic compounds prior to injection into a gas chromatograph.
In addition to instrumentation, Markes manufactures and markets a comprehensive range of sampling accessories and consumables for detecting organic chemicals in air, liquids and solids.
The profile of the business as a whole was recognised in 2019 by a Queen’s Award for Excellence (International Trade & Innovation). In addition, in 2017 its automated air-monitoring systems were officially endorsed by the Chinese Ministry of Environmental Protection – a rare accolade for products not manufactured in China, and testament to the dedication of Markes’ staff in developing this key market for analytical instrumentation.
Facilities
Markes International is headquartered in Bridgend, Wales, UK, where its products are manufactured in accordance with the ISO 9001 quality standard. This UK facility (Markes International Ltd) is also a centre of excellence for product development and application research, as well as supporting customers through its sales, marketing and service staff.
Markes also has three global subsidiaries:
- Markes International GmbH – Offenbach am Main, Germany
- Markes International, Inc. – Gold River, Sacramento, California, USA
- Markes Instruments (Shanghai) Co., Ltd – Shanghai, China
Each of these facilities has a demonstration laboratory, and focuses on providing technical support to customers on their products and applications, as well as to Markes’ sales distribution network. Across all of its offices, Markes International employs over 120 staff.
Sales are supported through a mix of OEM, independent distributor and value-added reseller relationships to supplement its direct sales organisation, allowing Markes to reach over 60 countries worldwide.
TD100-xr automated thermal desorption system
Products
Some of Markes’ most important products are:
- UNITY-xr™ thermal desorber – As a third-generation instrument, the UNITY-xr incorporates all the advances of the previous two decades of product development pioneered at Markes, with modular additions enabling sampling from canisters and on-line air streams. With Multi-Gas enabled technology.
- TD100-xr™ automated thermal desorber – Built on the technology embedded into the UNITY-xr, the TD100-xr is a high-throughput, automated thermal desorption system for the rapid and unattended processing of up to 100 sample sorbent tubes in a single sequence. With Multi-Gas enabled technology.
- Micro-Chamber/Thermal Extractor™ – Originally developed in response to demand for a system able to rapidly sample headspace emissions from construction materials, the Micro-Chamber/Thermal Extractor is now increasingly popular in a variety of other areas, including profiling of foods and fragranced goods.
Centri sample extraction and enrichment platform
- Kori-xr™ on-line water removal device – This key innovation resulted from a collaboration with York University, and is in high demand from laboratories needing to monitor highly volatile and polar compounds in humid air streams.
- HiSorb™ sorptive extraction probes – Released in 2015, HiSorb probes were developed to meet customers’ need for a sampling medium with improved sensitivity, robustness, and ease of automation.
- Centri® multi-technique automated sampling (extration and enrichment) platform – Released in 2018, Centri marks a major diversification of Markes’ product portfolio, to appeal to large international audiences wanting a high degree of flexibility from their analytical system.
For more on these products and the numerous other members of Markes’ product portfolio, please visit www.markes.com.
Applications
Markes’ products are used by many global brands for a wide variety of applications including environmental monitoring, testing of consumer goods, military and civil defence and food/fragrance profiling. Business sectors include major industry, government agencies, academia and service laboratories.
The success of Markes’ products is underpinned by a strong business development team that continually monitors developments worldwide and promotes itself as a source of expertise in VOC analysis, through tradeshows, conferences and regulatory committees.
Company websites
- A company of the
- International Group