US 4,762,995 A · Monodisperse aerosol generator

Abstract

A monodisperse aerosol generator forms a stable jet of liquid at a velocity allowing columnar breakup into droplets of uniform size and spacing. To prevent degradation of the monodisperse aerosol, it is dispersed by entrainment in a high velocity gaseous stream. To provide an interface for direct injection into a mass spectrometer or to interface a liquid chromatograph with a mass spectrometer, the generator is followed by a desolvation chamber operating at about atmospheric pressure and a multistage pressure reducer which evacuates solvent vapor and gaseous medium to form a high momentum, solvent-depleted solute aerosol beam which is input into the mass spectrometer. To permit the analysis of higher molecular weight molecules that may be either involatile or thermal sensitive, a fast atom bombardment (FAB) source is used for the production of FAB mass spectra.

Claims7

Dependent claims

A method of introducing solute recovered from effluent of a liquid chromatograph into a mass spectrometer, which comprises the steps of:

(a) generating a monodisperse aerosol from the effluent by delivering the effluent through a conduit at a velocity such that monodisperse droplet formation occurs
(b) providing a dispersing gas;
(c) dispersing the formed droplets with the gas;
(d) entraining the aerosol in gas and desolvating the aerosol at substantially atmospheric pressure;
(e) expanding the components of step (b) (d) into low pressure environment while removing gas therefrom to form a high momentum monodisperse aerosol beam of solute particles;
(f) directing said beam into a mass spectrometer;
and
(g) ionizing the monodisperse beam of solute particles by bombarding the solute particles with atoms originating from a fast atom bombardment source.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Monodisperse aerosol generator

Life of this patent

Monodisperse aerosol generator

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims7