Reusable Sample Cartridge for Portable Gas Analyzer Internal Standard Injection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current gas analyzer systems face challenges in achieving accurate quantitative analysis due to issues like analyzer drift, irregular desorption processes, and the inability to detect faults in sample collection, leading to compromised identification and quantitation accuracy.
Innovation Solution
A reusable sample cartridge system that adsorbs both the gas sample and a measured amount of internal standard gas, which are then desorbed and analyzed together using a sample analyzer, allowing for accurate calibration and compensation for system drifts and irregularities.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If manual syringe injection is used to add internal standard to the sample cartridge, then quantitative accuracy is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs automatic injection of the internal standard without requiring manual syringe operation. The automated injection mechanism eliminates the need for untrained operators to perform complex manual procedures, while still achieving accurate delivery of the internal standard to the sample cartridge.
2Ease of operation
If internal standard is injected inside the analyzer near the cartridge interface, then ease of operation is improved, but reliability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The internal standard is injected into the sample cartridge before the cartridge is docked with the analyzer. This preliminary action ensures that the internal standard is already present in the sample matrix, allowing it to undergo the same desorption process as the analytes and providing reliable compensation for desorption irregularities and system faults.
3Ease of operation
If valves are used to facilitate automatic injection of internal standard, then ease of operation is improved, but object-affected harmful factors worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The injection of the internal standard is performed through a separate pathway that bypasses the sample pathway valves. This extraction of the injection function from the sample pathway eliminates the harmful effects of valve contact on sensitive compounds, while still enabling automated operation.
Solution Approach 2:
A separate gas pathway is used as an intermediary to deliver the internal standard directly to the sample cartridge without requiring the sample pathway valves to be actuated. This intermediary pathway protects the sample from valve-related degradation while maintaining automated injection capability.
4Ease of operation
If calibrant compounds are introduced directly to the mass spectrometer without passing through the chromatography column, then ease of operation is improved, but measurement precision deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The internal standard is combined with the sample in the sample cartridge before analysis, so that both the internal standard and the analytes undergo the same chromatographic separation and desorption process. This merging ensures that the internal standard experiences identical conditions as the analytes, providing accurate compensation for retention time shifts and identification errors.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enables precise quantitative analysis by ensuring the internal standard is desorbed alongside the sample, allowing for accurate calibration and improved identification and quantitation accuracy, while also detecting potential faults in the sample collection process.
Implementation Method 1
The sample is collected by the sample collector, which includes an adsorbent tube onto which the sample is collected
Implementation Method 2
The sample collector is then brought to and docked with the analyzer where the sample gas is desorbed from the sample collector for chemical analysis
Data Source
AI summary
A system is disclosed for analyzing a gas sample. The system includes a sample collector structured to obtain a gas sample from an environment and a sample analyzer structured to removably couple with the sample collector. The sample analyzer is configured to: (i) measure an amount of internal standard and adsorb the measured amount of internal standard onto the sample collector; (ii) desorb the gas sample and the measured amount of internal standard from the sample collector; (iii) analyze the gas sample and the measured amount of internal standard; (iv) perform a quantitative analysis of the gas sample based on the analysis of the desorbed measured amount of internal standard; and (v) determine a type of the gas sample and an amount of the gas sample.