AUTOMATIC HEADSPACE AND PROGRAMMED TEMPERATURE VAPORIZER (PTV) OPERATED IN CRYO-ENRICHMENT MODE IN HIGH-RESOLUTION GAS-CHROMATOGRAPHY

The design and operation of a cryo-enrichment system in automatic headspace high resolution gas chromatography is described. The system consists of an automatic headspace sampler coupled to a gas chromatograph. The design of the programmed temperature vaporizer (PTV) allows the complete transfer of large amounts of the headspace gas sample to a capillary column without loss of efficiency and avoids the normal split mode of injection. The total transfer is obtained by moving the headspace gas through the PTV precolumn filled with 1 mg of adsorbent kept at cryogenic temperature. Thermal desorption takes place as a second automatic step to move the entrapped solutes to the capillary column.