title: Development of gas chromatography-flame ionization detection system with a single column and liquid nitrogen-free for measuring atmospheric C2-C12 hydrocarbons.
abstract: A liquid nitrogen-free GC-FID system equipped with a single column has been developed for measuring atmospheric C2-C12 hydrocarbons. The system is consisted of a cooling unit, a sampling unit and a separation unit. The cooling unit is used to meet the temperature needs of the sampling unit and the separation unit. The sampling unit includes a dehydration tube and an enrichment tube. No breakthrough of the hydrocarbons was detected when the temperature of the enrichment tube was kept at -90 °C and sampling volume was 400 mL. The separation unit is a small round oven attached on the cooling column. A single capillary column (OV-1, 30 m × 0.32 mm I.D.) was used to separate the hydrocarbons. An optimal program temperature (-60 ∼ 170 °C) of the oven was achieved to efficiently separate C2-C12 hydrocarbons. There were good linear correlations (R(2)=0.993-0.999) between the signals of the hydrocarbons and the enrichment amount of hydrocarbons, and the relative standard deviation (RSD) was less than 5%, and the method detection limits (MDLs) for the hydrocarbons were in the range of 0.02-0.10 ppbv for sampling volume of 400 mL. Field measurements were also conducted and more than 50 hydrocarbons from C2 to C12 were detected in Beijing city.
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China.
authors.forename: Chengtang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China. Electronic address: yjmu@rcees.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Yujing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mu
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China.
authors.forename: Chenglong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China.
authors.forename: Zhibo
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China.
authors.forename: Yuanyuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China.
authors.forename: Junfeng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Beijing Weather Modification Office, Beijing 100085, China.
authors.forename: Jiujiang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sheng
authors.affiliation: Beijing Weather Modification Office, Beijing 100085, China.
authors.forename: Jiannong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Quan
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D000068476:Beijing; D002849:Chromatography, Gas / Q000379:methods; D005410:Flame Ionization; D006838:Hydrocarbons / Q000032:analysis*; D009584:Nitrogen; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D006838:Hydrocarbons; D009584:Nitrogen
keywords: Capillary column; GC-FID; NMHCs; The ambient air