Integrated gas chromatograph

Abstract

A portable gas chromatograph with integrated micromachined flushed injector and thermal mass detector (TCD) has been developed. The silicon/glass injector operates in a fixed volume (2 x 7} uL or electronically operated mode. An integrated, pneumatically operated, fast cross-valve is applied in the injector. The TCD detector consists of two Pt microheaters and thermoresistors packaged in a silicon/glass micromachined chip. The temperature of two capillary molecular sieve separation columns is controlled by a thick-film heater fabricated on polyimide foil. The chromatograph is equipped with two 16-bits microprocessors communicating with the external portable PC. The instrument may operate in the on-line continuous analysis mode.