Detectors vapour

Century organic vapour analysers are factory calibrated to measure total organic vapours according to a standard (methane). Since different organic vapours interact with the flame ionization detector (FID) to varying extents, it is vital that the instrument user be aware of the magnitude of the variation in order to obtain the most accurate data. Each user must determine relative responses for the individual instrument. 

In this way, the liquid can be transferred at a speed corresponding to the evaporation speed. The fraction to be analysed is contained in a loop (see Eigure 2.5), connected to a switching valve. By opening the valve, the sample in the loop is driven by the carrier gas into the GC unit (8), instead of the LC pump. An early vapour exit is usually placed after a few metres of the deactivated precolumn (9) and a short piece (3-4 m) of the main column (retaining precolumn). This valve is opened during solvent evaporation in order to reduce the amount of solvent that would reach the detector, and at the same time, to increase the solvent evaporation rate (6). 

When the sample solvent evaporates at the front end of the liquid, volatile compounds co-evaporate with the solvent and start moving through the main column. In this way, volatile components can be lost through the early vapour exit or, if venting is delayed, the most volatile compounds reach the detector even before the end of... 

Figure 2.12 Schematic representation of an on-line SPE-GC system consisting of three switching valves (VI-V3), two pumps (a solvent-delivery unit (SDU) pump and a syringe pump) and a GC system equipped with a solvent-vapour exit (SVE), an MS instrument detector, a retention gap, a retaining precolumn and an analytical column. Reprinted from Journal of Chromatography, AIIS, A. J. H. Eouter et al, Analysis of microcontaminants in aqueous samples hy fully automated on-line solid-phase extraction-gas chromatography-mass selective detection , pp. 67-83, copyright 1996, with permission from Elsevier Science.

If a flammable gas or vapour is present, a pre-fire condition may be identified by a flammable-gas detector. Fire detection may be by ... 

If a flammable gas or vapour is present, a pre-fire condition may be identified by a flammable-gas detector. This will actuate an alarm at a fraction of the LFL. Banks of detectors may be installed at high or low level depending, in part, upon the gas density. Fire detection may be by ... 

Touching on drawbacks of vapour-liquid method, we should note that among those there is a lack of control of the thickness of condensed liquid layer on detector surface which may result (for fairly thick liquid layers) in diffusion retardation of oxygen chemisorbtion. The diffusion... 

The influence of other active components, such as 1, OH, H on a semiconductor sensor, with other conditions being the same, is comparable with the influence of atomic oxygen [50]. Contribution of N and OH is proportional to their relative contents (compared to that of atomic oxygen) in the atmosphere and may become essential at altitudes lower than 60 - 70 km. The use of selective detectors excludes the influence of atomic hydrogen. Studies of adsorption of water vapours on ZnO films [50] show that their influence is negligibly small at the film temperatures below 100°C. Variations of electric conductivity of the films under the influence of water vapours and of an atomic oxygen are comparable at the ratio of their concentrations [H20]/[0] = 10" . 

Principles and Characteristics Ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) is an instrumental technique for the detection and characterisation of organic compounds as vapours at atmospheric pressure. Modern analytical IMS was created at the end of the 1960s from studies on ion-molecule chemistry with mass spectrometers and from ionisation detectors for vapour monitoring. An ion mobility spectrometer (or plasma chromatograph in the original termininology) was first produced in 1970 [272],... 

Another level detector is the capacitance gauge which relies on the difference of dielectric constant of liquid and vapour (1.057 and 1.001 for 4He). In most of these gauges, the capacitor is made of two concentric tubes. A review is reported in ref. [30],... 

In a resistance level detector, a resistive thermometer is powered with 0.1-1 mW. When the thermometer is inside the LHe, its temperature is about 4 K. If it is raised into the vapour phase, its temperature raises because of the weaker thermal contact. The sensing element is usually a NbTi wire (see e.g. ref. [31]). 

The various combustion methods differ primarily in the method of measuring the carbon dioxide generated from the organic carbon. The first really sensitive carbon dioxide detector and the one still most used is the non-dispersive infrared gas analyser. The detecting element senses the difference in absorption of infrared energy between a standard cell filled with a gas with no absorption in the infrared, and a sample cell. Water vapour is the only serious interference, hence the carbon dioxide must be dried before any measurements are made. 

The detector model is capable of simulating both vapour and liquid detection systems. So far, about a dozen different detector systems are available. The detector model input signal (see 2.1) consists of i) a time concentration profile, ii) the identity of the chemical warfare agent (HD, GB, VX or L) and iii) the relative air humidity (RH < 80% or RH > 80%). 

For vapour detection there are three aspects that are modelled sensitivity, response time, and regeneration. The sensitivity determines at which concentration level the detector will respond. The theoretical detector output (alarm or no alarm) is calculated by comparing the input data (concentration, relative humidity) with empirical detector display outputs, obtained during controlled exposure laboratory experiments. The response time determines how long it takes before the detector actually shows the response and it depends on the concentration level. The regeneration time determines how long it takes, after a positive detection, before the detector can do a new measurement. 

The vapour pressure osmometer method is more acceptable of all the methods involving measurement of colligative properties because of the sensitivity of the detector. For ideal solvent-solvents with a low heat of vaporisation, the differential thermistors of the VPO can detect differences in temperature of the order of 0.001°C this sensitivity determines the Molecular weight of the samples upto 20,000. 

---