Improved recovery of organic compounds in liquid samples using complete evaporation vacuum extraction, thermal desorption and GCMS analysis

Abstract

When a sample extraction device including a sorbent is coupled to a sample vial including a sample, vacuum is evacuated by the sample extraction device to vaporize a volatile matrix in the sample and carry a volatilized target compound in the sample to the sorbent. Optionally, once the volatile matrix evaporates, the sample vial is heated and / or the vacuum level is increased to transfer the heavier target compound to the sorbent. Multiple sampling devices can perform extraction in parallel. The sample extraction device may be inserted into a thermal desorption device that directly couples the sample extraction device to a gas chromatograph. In some embodiments, a sample is desorbed and analyzed using gas chromatography or another suitable technique. Techniques disclosed herein are useful for analyzing volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds in water, food, beverages, soil, and other substrates.

Description

[0001] Cross References to Related Applications [0002] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 856,587, filed June 3, 2019, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes. technical field [0003] The present disclosure relates to the extraction of samples for further chemical analysis, and more particularly to systems and methods for preparing samples for chemical analysis using evaporative vacuum extraction. Background technique [0004] GCMS (Gas Chromatography / Mass Spectrometry) is a very powerful technique that can analyze tens of thousands of different compounds in simple to complex matrices. However, for precise detection and measurement, real-world samples often must undergo cleaning, reduction and / or concentration processes to achieve the best possible accuracy and sensitivity of the technique. Food, environmental samples such as water and soil, natural products, consum...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

However, these methods recover large amounts of water vapor, so analytical challenges remain analytically challenging without injecting too much water into the GCMS

The use of transfer lines, rotary valves, and other equipment in the flow path prior to the trap also reduces extraction efficiency due to increased surface exposure, dead volume present in connecting fittings, and through long tubing and many low volume connecting fittings poor vacuum delivery

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