Micro Gas Chromatograph

 

Analysis of gaseous products by MicroGC

 
Agilent 490 & Agilent Rack R-3000

Gaseous products, after proper filtration, are analyzed using a Micro Gas Chromatograph (GC). Three of them are available at the Bioenergy & Biofuels LAB: two Agilent 490 and one Agilent Rack R-3000. They are configured for use with He and Ar as gas carrier (minimum purity of 99.999%). To separate different components, the GCs are equipped with 2 or 4 columns, which can be used up to 180 °C.
gc490

 

  1. MicroGC Rack R-3000 Agilent
    1. Molsieve 5Å column: designed to separate hydrogen, carbon monoxide, methane, nitrogen, oxygen, and some noble gases;
    2. PoraPLOT U column: designed to separate hydrocarbons C1–C6, halocarbons/freons, H2S, CO2, SO2, anesthetics, volatile solvents.
  2. MicroGC 490 Agilent
    1. Molsieve 5Å column: designed to separate hydrogen, carbon monoxide, methane, nitrogen, oxygen, and some noble gases;
    2. PoraPLOT U column: designed to separate hydrocarbons C1–C6, halocarbons/freons, H2S, CO2, SO2, anesthetics, volatile solvents.
  3. MicroGC 490 Agilent
    1. Molsieve 5Å column: designed to separate hydrogen, carbon monoxide, methane, nitrogen, oxygen, and some noble gases;
    2. PoraPLOT U column: designed to separate hydrocarbons C1–C6, halocarbons/freons, H2S, CO2, SO2, anesthetics, volatile solvents.
    3. CP-Sil 5 CB column: designed to separate high molecular weight hydrocarbons (C3-C10).
    4. CP-WAX 52 CB column: designed to separate BTX, i.e. Benzene, Toluene, and the three Xylene isomers, all of which are aromatic hydrocarbons.

     
    This instruments are installed at the Bioenergy & Biofuels LAB and have been funded by the Autonomous Province of Bolzano in the frame of the development of the NOI Techpark and by the Free-University of Bozen-Bolzano.
     
    Principle of measurament
    Depending on the chemical and physical properties of the different gaseous components and their interaction with the column filling, they flow out of the column at different time. The Micro GC is then equipped with a series of thermal conductivity detector (TCD), which are used to detect the components of the mixture being eluted off the chromatography columns. This detector is made with a Wheatstone bridge circuit which measures the difference in thermal conductivity between a reference cell (carrier gas only) and a measurement cell (carrier gas containing sample components).
     

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