Thermo’s TRACE GC Ultra Analyzer Maximizes Productivity in the Analysis of Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons

Thermo Electron Corporation announces the development of a new application for the analysis of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) using its TRACE GC Ultra™ Flame Ionization Detection (FID) system coupled with an Ultra Fast option.

The application is based on sample extraction with n-pentane and GC-FID monitoring of hydrocarbons ranging from nC6 to nC36. It demonstrates how the TRACE GC Ultra helps environmental monitoring laboratories comply with the strict requirements of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) method 1005, maximizing their overall productivity.

The TCEQ method 1005, based on Gas Chromatography (GC), regulates the amount of mineral oils and petroleum products found in water and soil for quality certifications. In the past, this determination was carried out using Infrared (IR) technique that, although simple and fast, demands the use of CCl4, TTCE or Freon as the extraction solvent. Following the ban on CCl4 and Freon due to their toxicity and ozone-depleting properties, Thermo’s Ultra Fast GC-FID technology has proved to be an extremely rapid and accurate alternative to traditional methods.

Thermo’s TRACE GC Ultra is able to quantify 5 ppm of total hydrocarbons in n-pentane with no need to inject more than 1 µL. Impressive productivity is delivered through a very simple and rugged hardware, suitable for the analyses of very dirty matrices usually requested in this field. The system’s Ultra Fast option accelerates the analytical time by a factor of 10 leading to a total productivity of about 70 samples per day, not including the runs that could be performed unattended overnight.

The integration of Thermo’s TriPlus™ Autosampler with this GC-FID solution allows for one autosampler to automate two adjacent GCs working simultaneously. This provides high levels of automation with one sampling turret working as two virtual autosamplers, doubling the overall productivity. Additionally, this analytical solution features low frequency of maintenance and ease of use of the data system, delivering a dedicated turn-key method with ready-to-use pre-optimized parameters.

For more information about Thermo’s TRACE GC Ultra and its TPH analytical capabilities, please contact Thermo.