Dual-purpose gas chromatographic injection device for pressurized liquid and gas injection

A dual-purpose gas chromatographic injection device, capable of injecting pressurized liquid sample of up to 5000 psig and gas sample with a volume as high as 5000 μL, has been successfully developed and implemented. The injection device is synergized by the effectiveness of a classical flash vaporization of a syringe injection and the reliability of a proven rotary valve. Depending on the matrix involved, this injection device employs either a commercially available four-port internal valve for liquid sampling or a six-port external valve for gas sampling, a modified removable needle used in standard liquid syringe, and an auxiliary flow stream that can be either mechanical or electronic flow controlled for solute transfer. For pressurized liquid, the device was found suitable of up to nC₁₆ hydrocarbon with no observable carry-over despite the injection device was operating at ambient temperature. A relative standard deviation of less than 2% (n = 20) was obtained for hydrocarbon compounds ranging from nC₈ to nC₁₆. For gas injection, the device performed well even under difficult chromatographic conditions such as with a low column inlet pressure of less than 1 psig. A relative standard deviation of less than 0.5% (n = 10) was obtained for reactive sulfur compounds such as alkyl mercaptans. The device can be operated manually or automated with pneumatic or electrical actuator, is platform neutral, and can be moved amongst instruments without hardware modification as well as implemented for on-line or in situ applications. In this paper, the utility of the device was also demonstrated with selected GC applications of industrial significance.     

Stacked injection with low thermal mass gas chromatography for PPB level detection of oxygenated compounds in hydrocarbons

The presence of oxygenated compounds in light hydrocarbons can have a negative impact in manufacturing processes and on the quality of products produced. The development of an analytical technique termed "stacked injection" has been reported earlier. With this technique, sensitivity in the parts-per-billion (ppb) range for oxygenated compounds can be achieved, even with a flame ionization detector; however, there are drawbacks for this approach that limit its overall effectiveness. A new, improved analytical technique has been developed that not only addresses the shortcomings encountered, but offers markedly higher analytical performance. The new concept employs multidimensional gas chromatography (GC) with low thermal mass GC. With this new approach, throughput improvements of up to 5 times, range extension of solutes amenable for this analysis of up to nC16 alcohol, and ppb levels of detection for oxygenated compounds are achieved. Apart from alcohols, this technique is successfully employed for the ppb level analysis of other classes of oxygenated compounds, such as ethers, aldehydes, and aromatics.     

Splitless injection of up to hundreds of microliters of liquid samples in capillary GC: Part 1, concept

If a sample evaporates by flash vaporization in an empty injector insert, the solute material is well mixed with the expanding solvent vapors and the maximum injection volume is determined by the requirement that no vapors must leave the vaporizing chamber. If evaporation occurs from a surface (e.g., of Tenax packing), however, the solvent evaporates first. The site of evaporation is cooled to the solvent's boiling point, and the cool island formed in the hot injector retains solutes of at least intermediate boiling point (visually observed for perylene). Solvent vapors, free from such solutes, may now expand backwards from the injector insert and leave through the septum purge exit. When solvent evaporation is complete, the site of evaporation warms up, causing the high boiling solutes to evaporate and to be carried into the column by the carrier gas. The technique somewhat resembles PTV injection, but is performed using a classical vaporizing injector.     

Volatile phase profiling of mainstream smoke by glass capillary gas-chromatographic techniques

A heated injection system for a microprocessor-controlled GC has been developed for the (GC)² analysis of the volatile phase of whole smoke of a cigarette. Effects of injection port temperature and the presence of a Cambridge filter pad are demonstrated. Chromatograms are shown for smoke samples with and without a Cambridge Filter with the sample valve oven at 25°, 165° and 205°C. The use of a flame ionization and a nitrogen-phosphorous detector is illustrated.     

A comparative study of injection techniques in high-performance liquid chromatography

Summary The performance of injection valves with both curtain- and single-flow column couplings has been evaluated using reverse-phase octadecylsilane columns and a standard test mixture. The results are compared with those obtained from septum and stopped-flow syringe injections.Stopped-flow valve injection has been examined similarly. Configurations and couplings which give optimum efficiency and reproducibility are recommended.     

Improving splitless injection with electronic pressure programming

An experimental injection port has been designed for split or splitless sample introduction in capillary gas chromatography; the inlet uses electronic pressure control, in order that the column head pressure may be set from the GC keyboard, and the inlet may be used in the constant flow or constant pressure modes. Alternatively, the column head pressure may be programmed up or down during a GC run in a manner analogous to even temperature programming. Using electronic pressure control, a method was developed which used high column head pressures (high column flow rates) at the time of injection, followed by rapid reduction of the pressure to that required for optimum GC separation. In this way, high flow rates could be used at the time of splitless injection to reduce sample discrimination, while lower flow rates could be used for the separation. Using this method, up to 5 μl of a test sample could be injected in the splitless mode with no discrimination; in another experiment, 2.3 times as much sample was introduced into the column by using electronic pressure programming. Some GC peak broadening was observed in the first experiment.     

The application of flow switching rotary valves in two-dimensional high resolution gas chromatography

Two-dimensional high resolution gas chromatography with small bore glass capillary columns is simplified by use of a single 6–port flow switching rotary valve. The band spreading and tailing normally associated with mechanical valves is overcome by matching the internal valve passage diameters to that of the capillary column, and by minimizing unswept volumes in the fittings. selection of inert valve and transfer line materials effectively ellminates undesirable adsorption phenomena. The high thermal stability of the value permmits it to be mounted directly in the GC oven where it can be actuated externally. With slight modifications either packed or capillary pre-columns may be used for initial saperations. Application of enrichment, solvent removal and heart cutting are described.     

An all-purpose injection system for gas chromatographic analyses of biological samples.

A versatile injection system for the direct introduction of samples into the gas chromatograph (GC) is described. Several years of experience in biological and pharmaceutical chemistry have led to the construction and final modification of this device. No modification of the injection port of the GC is necessary.     

Direct injection of large sample volumes into capillary columns with packed column injector

A direct injection method for large volume samples which avoids severe tailing of the solvent peak has been developed using a packed column injector (up to 100 μl) leading into an ordinary capillary column (0.3 mm i.d.). Modifications are made to the cooler zones of the inlet port and on the carrier gas flow control system. This injection technique is based on the effective use of phase soaking and cold trapping using a retention gap. The large volume of solvent vapor is rapidly purged out of the injector with a higher flow of carrier gas while the solutes trapped at the head of the column are subsequently analyzed with another optimum flow rate. The proposed carrier gas flow regulation system is also compared with conventional split/splitless injection methods.     

Comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography using liquid nitrogen modulation: set-up and applications

An improved modulation system for comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC x GC) is presented. It is based on two-jet modulation with liquid nitrogen as cryogen. A valve system was designed to include subsequent re-heating of cooled capillary segments after modulation. It is demonstrated that even volatile components, such as propane or butane, are easily modulated with this system. Thus, the temperature range for GC x GC operation compared to diaphragm valve or liquid CO2 modulation is extended. The system allows highly efficient analysis of volatile and non-volatile components. Applications include separations of alkenes and gasoline samples. Also sulfur-containing hydrocarbon samples were compared via GC x GC and differences among samples of different producers were observed. Finally, headspace GC x GC investigations of volatiles found in polymer latex-coated papers round out the increasing portfolio of valuable applications.     

Simple conversion of two standard gas chromatographs to all-glass capillary systems

Two regular GC instruments were modified with injection port liners, split-mode injection systems, pressure regulators, effluent traps and needle valves to produce an all-glass GC-2 system. This simple and inexpensive system allows the quantitative analyses of phenols, hydrocarbons, acids, sterols, terpenoids, and alkaloids with excellent reproducibility and linear response. Even more impressive was its ability to analyze a C₄₅-terpenoid alcohol, solanesol, as its TMS-derivative (M.W. 702).     

New injection valves and their application in flow injection analysis

Summary Two variable volume injection valves, equipped with bypass loops, have been developed, primarily to circumvent problems with matrix effects in high sensitivity FIA.The application of a dual channel valve for simultaneous analysis, zone sampling and merging zones techniques is discussed.Examples for on-line dilutions up to several thousand-fold and the direct determination of calcium in Kjeldahl digests using the zone sampling approach and a study of the interference of ascorbic acid on the Griess reaction for nitrite are presented. The application of chasing zones techniques by coupling a simple single channel valve in a new way is proposed.

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Neue Injektionsventile und ihre Anwendung in der Fließinjektionsanalyse

     

Valves and flow injection manifolds: an excellent marriage with unlimited versatility

An overview of the functions of valves—both injection and selection valves—in flow injection (FI) for manipulating the manifold as a function of both necessities and imagination of the user is reported. The use of single valves for sample or reagent injection, for housing different devices (namely, minicolumns and other separation units, flow-cells, etc.) is discussed. Multiple injection valve arrangements (in-series, in-parallel and inner coupling) that give place to FI modes as merging-zones (both symmetrical and asymmetrical), trapping-zone and nested-loop approaches are exposed. The possible locations of selection valves in the FI manifold are presented and the problems each design can solve are commented.     

Simplifying the setup for vacuum‐outlet GC: Using a restriction inside the injection port

The application of vacuum GC has several advantages over pressurized GC. One of the key characteristics is that the optimal gas velocity is very high. Combined with short capillary columns of wide internal diameter, this results in short analysis times using standard GC‐MS equipment. To make vacuum GC possible using a GC‐MS system, a restriction must be positioned at the injection side of the column. This restriction is usually made of deactivated 0.1 mm i.d. fused‐silica tubing which is coupled to the analytical column. Such restrictions will work, but practical challenges are found in coupling, reducing dead volume and robustness. A new way of making restrictions is by incorporating the restriction into the injection port. Using well‐defined short pieces of fused silica with internal diameter of 0.025 mm, one can make a restriction using a Press‐Tight® type connector, and position this inside the injection port. By doing this, the restriction is very short and at high temperature all the time. Activity plays a minimal role, and also leaks will not be an issue as the coupling is in 100% inert gas. Data obtained using this concept is promising as vacuum GC becomes easier and more robust.     

Determination of hydrolytic degradation products of nerve agents by injection port fluorination in gas chromatography/mass spectrometry for the verification of the Chemical Weapons Convention

Retrospective detection and identification of markers of chemical warfare agents are important aspects of verification of the Chemical Weapons Convention. Alkyl alkylphosphonic acids (AAPAs) and alkylphosphonic acids (APAs) are important markers of nerve agents. We describe the development and optimization of a new gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) injection port fluorination method for the derivatization of AAPAs and APAs. The process involved the injection of acids with trifluoroacetic anhydride in GC/MS, where acids are converted into their corresponding volatile fluorides. Various reaction conditions such as fluorinating agent, injection port temperature and splitless time were optimized. The maximum reaction efficiency of the acids with trifluoroacetic anhydride was observed at 230 degrees C injection port temperature with a splitless time of 2 min. APAs showed best analytical efficiencies at 400 degrees C injection port temperature, while the other conditions were similar to those of AAPAs. The linearities of response for APAs and AAPAs were in the range of 1-25 and 5-100 microg mL(-1), respectively, with limits of detection ranging from 500 pg to 800 ng mL(-1).     

Developments in ultra-fast temperature programming with silicon micromachined gas chromatography: performance and limitations

Various commercially available ultra-fast temperature programming approaches were integrated to silicon micromachined GC (micro-GC) for performance improvement assessment. The combined technique of micro-GC and ultra-fast temperature programming up to a rate of 6°C/second yielded an extended analysis range to undecane (nC(11)), improved signal detectability by at least a factor of three for the solutes studied with respectable one day reproducibility of less than 1% relative standard deviation in retention time (n = 20). Through careful control of various variables affecting retention time, performance improvements can be extended further. The various effects temperature programming has on the stability of thermal conductivity detector as well as criteria that need to be met for the successful implementation of ultra-fast temperature programming in micro-GC are presented.     

Qualitative supercritical fluid extraction coupled to capillary gas chromatography

The usefulness and ease of utilizing supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) directly coupled to capillary gas chromatography (GC) as quantitative or qualitative analytical problem-solving tools will be demonstrated. As an alternative to conventional liquid solvent extractions, SFE presents itself as a means to achieve high extraction efficiencies of different compounds in complex solid matrices in very rapid tims frames. Moreover, SFE has an additional advantage of being able to achieve distinct extraction selectivities as a function of the solubilizing power of the supercritical fluid extracting phase. For on-line SFE/GC, the extraction effluent is directly transferred to the analytical chromatograph. On-line SFE/GC involves the decompression of pressurized extraction effluent directly into a heated, unmodified capillary split injection port of the GC. In this respect, SFE introduction into GC can be used as an alternative means of GC injection, comparable to such modes of injection as pyrolysis and thermal desorption. This paper will show applications of SFE/GC where mass spectrometric detection together with flame ionization detection was used for component identification from environmental, tobacco, and petroleum matrices.     

Determination of multiclass pesticide residues in apple juice by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry with large-volume injection

This study presents two GC-MS SIM methods, in combination with large-volume injection programmed-temperature vaporization (LVI-PTV) injection, for the determination of 141 pesticide residues in apple juice. The sample was extracted with ACN, and coextractives were removed with primary/secondary amine sorbent. ACN extract (20 microL) was injected into a PTV injection port in solvent vent mode, and the pesticides were determined by GC-MS using retention time locking software. Deuterium-labeled pesticides (surrogate standards) were used for analytical quality control. In the validation experiments, pesticides recoveries were found to be 70-121% with RSDs of 4.6-21% (n = 6).     

Large volume injection techniques in capillary gas chromatography

Large volume injection (LVI) is a prerequisite of modern gas chromatographic (GC) analysis, especially when trace sample components have to be determined at very low concentration levels. Injection of larger than usual sample volumes increases sensitivity and/or reduces (or even eliminates) the need for extract concentration steps. Also, an LVI technique can serve as an interface for on-line connection of GC with a sample preparation step or with liquid chromatography. This article reviews the currently available LVI techniques, including basic approaches to their optimization and important real-world applications. The most common LVI methods are on-column and programmed temperature vaporization (PTV) in solvent split mode. Newer techniques discussed in this article include direct sample introduction (DSI), splitless overflow, at-column, and "through oven transfer adsorption desorption" (TOTAD).     

Exploiting sequential injection analysis with lab-at-valve (LAV) approach for on-line liquid-liquid micro-extraction spectrophotometry

Sequential injection analysis (SIA) with lab-at-valve (LAV) approach for on-line liquid-liquid micro-extraction has been exploited. Sample, reagent and organic solvent were sequentially aspirated into a coil attached to a central port of a conventional multiposition selection valve, where the extraction process was performed. The aqueous and organic phases were separated in a conical separating chamber LAV unit attached at one port of the valve. The organic phase containing extracted product was then monitored spectrophotometrically. The system offers a novel alternative on-line automated extraction in a micro-scale and has been successfully demonstrated for the assays of diphenhydramine hydrochloride (DPHH) in pharmaceutical preparations and anionic surfactant in water samples.