A simple and easily fabricated device for desorbing volatiles from porous polymers and other adsorbents

A device has been developed for the rapid desorption of organic compounds from adsorbent traps. Some advantages over previous devices include its ease of fabrication from inexpensive and readily obtainable materials, and its high portability between instruments. No major modification of the gas chromatograph (GC) inlet system is necessary and in a matter of seconds the desorber can be removed from the injection port for normal syringe injections. The adsorbent tubes can be transported into the field for sampling and returned to the laboratory for desorption and analysis by GC or GC-MS. Additionally, the device is useful for head space analysis, volatile organics analysis in aqueous solutions, and impurities in gaseous feed streams.