AS248: The Use of Hydrogen Carrier Gas for Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) in Water Using the Element Robotic VOC Analyser

Commercial laboratory organisations are reviewing use of Hydrogen and are looking to upgrade/replace old systems and methods. As well as a reduction in gas costs when switching from helium to hydrogen carrier gas; a high-grade helium cylinder can cost up to £2000 and an equivalent hydrogen cylinder £130, there is also a driver from an environmental perspective, particularly if generators are used for the hydrogen carrier gas supply.

As there is a fully validated Element solution for Volatile Organic Compounds VOCs in water (as reported in application note AS 243), this method was chosen to evaluate hydrogen as a carrier gas to potentially improve sample throughput, something which is of importance for environmental contract testing laboratories.

This application note discusses the process of converting a method to use hydrogen carrier gas. It presents some of the data obtained for determination of VOC in water using Static Headspace Extraction with Gas Chromatography – Mass Spectrometry (HS-GC-MS), which is an established technique for this analysis.