This application note demonstrates how a Markes Multi-Gas thermal desorber can operate with hydrogen carrier gas as well as it does with helium to meet all the performance criteria cited in US EPA Method TO-17, including linearity, reproducibility and method detection limits (MDLs).
Helium is a finite resource that is increasingly expensive and difficult to source as a gas chromatography (GC) carrier gas. Also, it has to be extracted and stored before being shipped around the world, giving it a high carbon footprint. Hydrogen is simple to generate using water and electricity so seems to be the obvious environmentally-friendly alternative. Securing against helium shortages in the long term and offering immediate cost and operational savings, hydrogen also promises shorter analytical cycle times and faster sample throughput.
Several of Markes’ world-leading xr-range thermal desorption (TD) systems are now certified for safe operation with hydrogen carrier gas and can be connected to any hydrogenready gas chromatograph and mass spectrometer. These are:
- UNITY-xr™ – optimum two-stage TD performance for single sorbent tubes.
- TD100-xr™ – the world’s leading automated thermal desorber with capacity for 100 tubes (Figure 1).
- UNITY–ULTRA-xr™ – 100-tube TD system with versatile upgrade routes.
- UNITY–ULTRA-xr Pro™ – 199-tube automation of thermal desorption, re-collection and repeat analysis.
>> Download the Full Application Note as a PDF
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