PreCon
Automated Trace Gas Pre-Concentrator
Solve the problem of large trace gas sample sizes in gas isotope ratio MS with the Thermo Scientific™ PreCon automated trace gas pre-concentrator. Isotope ratio analysis of trace gases such as atmospheric N2O or CH4 can be hampered by the need for very large sample volumes. For example, 13C/12C measurement of CH4 can require 70L of air. The PreCon automated trace gas pre-concentrator reduces sample volume by up to three orders of magnitude and improves sample throughput by at least one order of magnitude.
Features
Make Trace Gas Analysis Easier
- Attaches to a Thermo Scientific™ GC IsoLink™ or Thermo Scientific™ GasBench II interfaced to a Thermo Scientific gas isotope ratio MS
- Both CH4 (13C/12C) and N2O (15N/14N and 18O/16O) can be measured at natural concentrations (CH4: 1700 ppb; N2O: 330 ppb) in air sample volumes <100mL
- Carries out sample concentration and purification (removal of H2O, CO2 and condensable (for CH4) and noncondensable (for N2O) gases), cryofocusing, and injection onto a gas chromatograph
- For CH4, combustion in a special combustion oven with 100% combustion efficiency and a CO2 pre-concentration step are added prior to cryofocusing
- Samples are bracketed by reference pulses from the automated reference gas injection system, allowing highly precise isotope ratio determination
- Can be loaded manually or operated fully automated using the Thermo Scientific™ GC-PAL™ autosampler with a two line needle for continuous sample transfer
- All processes are controlled and can be expanded by user-definable ISL scripts in the Thermo Scientific™ Isodat™ software suite
