Low flow, externally air cooled torch for inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry with axial viewing

The torch wall is cooled largely by air passing through a cooling jacket added to the outside of a Fassel torch. The plasma is viewed axially through a cooled cone interface centered on the axial channel. The outer argon gas flow can be reduced to 7 l min(-1) with no compromise in performance or torch lifetime. The plasma exhibits the same 'robustness index' and interference effects from Na as the conventional, high-flow ICP supplied with the particular spectrometer used. Detection limits (DL) for lines at similar to 200 nm are poorer by approximately a factor of two, while those for lines at similar to 400 nm are actually better than values typically seen for the same lines by axial viewing of a conventional, high-flow ICP. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.