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HIGH RESOLUTION MASS SPECTROMETER

General Description

As a consequence of the great industrial and technological advance that has taken place in the last few decades, a large number of new organic compounds has appeared. The development of complex analytical techniques, among which the mass spectrometry occupies a prominent place, has made possible the knowledge of these substances.

The high resolution Autospec Ultima mass spectrometer permits the analysis, both qualitative and quantitative, of organic chemical substances that can be found in trace concentrations.

This equipment consists of the following elements:

  • Electronic impact (EI) and chemical ionization (CI) sources for possitive and negative ions.
  • System for the direct introduction of samples by probe.
  • Automatic injector model AS200.
  • High resolution gas cromatographer HP 5890 II Plus coupled to the spectrometer to obtain the separation of the compounds prior to their entry in the ionization source.
  • Quick pumping system by diffusion pumps that consists of one 700 l/s pump for the ionization source zone and two more, of 280 l/s each one, for the analyzer.
  • Data processing system to quantify the detected substances, based in the EPA methods.

Technical Characteristics







 
  • Masses range:
    2,000 daltons at an acceleration stress of 8 kV.
  • Resolution:
    80,000 (definition of the valley at 10%), in the EI mode.
  • Velocity of the sweep cycle:
    5 sweeps/second on the calibrated mass range of 500-50-500.
  • Sensitivity:
    -EI Mode: 5 x 10-8 C/ug in the ion m/z 298.3 of the methyl stearate at a 1,000 resolution and 5 x 10-9 C/ug at a 10,000 resolution.
    -CI+ Mode: 5 x 10-8 C/ug in the ion 229 of the methyl stearate at a 1,000 resolution.
    -CI- Mode: 5 x 10-8 C/ug in the ion 208 of anthraquinone at a 1,000 resolution.
  • Sensitivity for dioxines:
    100 fg of 2,3,7,8-TCDD injected in a DB5 column of 30 m produce, in SIR mode at a 10,000 resolution, a chromatographic peak with a 100:1 signal-noise relation.

Applications

 
  • Qualitative and quantitative analysis of organic compounds at trace levels.
  • Separation of complex mixtures of isomers.
  • Identification of such substances by contrast with spectra libraries incorporated in memory.
  • Quantification of the compounds detected in accordance with the quality systems in laboratories.
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