Low thermal mass gc module
AssigneePerkinElmer Health Sciences, Inc.
InventorsEdgar D. Lee, Nathan L. Porter, Anthony D. Rands, Randall W. Waite
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Abstract
A system and method for performing field-portable GC/MS measurements for the rapid sampling and measurement of high temperature boiling semi-volatile organic compounds in environmental samples, wherein other column bundles have cold spots that may prevent high temperature boiling semi-volatile components from eluting the GC column, this new design may eliminate those cold spots on the GC column.
Claims16
A heating system for minimizing cold spots in capillary tubing of a column used for performing field-portable Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometer (GC/MS) measurements, said heating system comprised of:
- an inner cylindrical ring;
- a heating wire disposed around the inner cylindrical ring;
- a middle cylindrical ring disposed around the heating wire and the inner cylindrical ring, wherein the heating wire uniformly heats the middle cylindrical ring;
- a capillary tubing used as a GC column and disposed around an outer surface of the middle cylindrical ring, wherein the capillary tubing does not overlap itself on the middle cylindrical ring;
- and
- an outer cylindrical ring disposed around the capillary tubing and the middle cylindrical ring.
A method for minimizing cold spots in a capillary column that is used for performing field-portable GC/MS measurements, said method comprising:
- providing an inner cylindrical ring, a heating wire disposed around the inner cylindrical ring, a middle cylindrical ring disposed around the heating wire and the inner cylindrical ring, a capillary tubing used as a GC column and disposed around an outer surface of the middle cylindrical ring, and an outer cylindrical ring disposed around the capillary tubing and the middle cylindrical ring;
- and
- preventing cold spots in the capillary tubing by 1) uniformly heating the middle cylindrical ring by uniform distribution of the heating wire around the inner cylindrical ring, and 2) not overlapping any portion of the capillary tubing when winding it around the middle cylindrical ring, and thereby enabling all of the capillary tubing to be exposed to the same amount of heat from the middle cylindrical ring.
A method for performing sampling and measurement of high temperature boiling semi-volatile organic compounds in a field-portable GC/MS instrument, said method comprising:
- providing an inner cylindrical ring, a heating wire disposed around the inner cylindrical ring, a middle cylindrical ring disposed around the heating wire and the inner cylindrical ring, a capillary tubing used as a GC column and disposed around an outer surface of the middle cylindrical ring, wherein the capillary tubing is wound as a single layer, and an outer cylindrical ring disposed around the capillary tubing and the middle cylindrical ring;
- uniformly heating the middle cylindrical ring by uniform distribution of the heating wire around the inner cylindrical ring;
- and
- performing sampling and measurement of high temperature boiling semi-volatile organic compounds.
A system for performing sampling and measurement of high temperature boiling semi-volatile organic compounds in a field-portable GC/MS instrument, said heating system comprised of:
- an inner cylindrical ring;
- a heating wire uniformly disposed around the inner cylindrical ring;
- a middle cylindrical ring disposed around the heating wire and the inner cylindrical ring, wherein the heating wire uniformly heats the middle cylindrical ring;
- a capillary tubing used as a GC column and disposed in a single layer around an outer surface of the middle cylindrical ring, wherein the capillary tubing does not overlap itself on the middle cylindrical ring;
- an outer cylindrical ring disposed around the capillary tubing and the middle cylindrical ring;
- and
- a field portable GC/MS instrument that is coupled to the capillary tubing for performing sampling and measurement of high temperature boiling semi-volatile organic compounds.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.