Rotary pumps performance analysis

The main analytical instrumentation in the vehicle is a benchtop GC/MS by Hewlett Packard, HP 5890 GC/5970 MSB (mass selective detector). A basic configuration for analyzing liquid samples includes a heated injection port and a capillary fused-silica column interfaced directly to the MS via a heated transfer line. The MS is a quadrupole design operated under vacuum provided by a diffusion pump and backed by a mechanical rotary pump. System operation and data analysis are performed by a Pentium-level personal computer loaded with proprietary software and a NBS spectral library to aid with identification of unknowns. Depending on the mission, a simpler installation may consist of a GC equipped with an appropriate detector such as the electron capture detector (ECD). 

The performic acid is prepared in the usual manner by allowing a mixture of 1.0 ml of 30% (w/v) H2O2 and 9.0 ml of 88% (w/v) formic acid to stand at room temperature for 1 hr, after which it is cooled to 0°C. A known amount of protein, usually the amount used for routine hydrolysates, is dissolved in 1 to 2 ml of the reagent in a cooled hydrolysis tube. If the protein does not dissolve readily in the cold reagent, it can usually be dissolved first in 0.1 ml of 100% formic acid at room temperature. The mixture is kept at 0°C for 4 hr after which performic acid is destroyed by the addition of 0.15 ml of cold 48 % (w/v) HBr per ml of performic acid reagent used. The bromine which forms, as well as the formic acid solution, can best be removed from the hydrolysis tube by rotary evaporation under high vacuum (mechanical pump) at 40°C with NaOH pellets in the condenser trap the condenser should be cooled with dry ice in ethanol. Acid hydrolysis of the oxidized sample and analysis of the resulting hydrolysates are performed in the usual manner ( 2.1.2). 

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