SIGNAL ENHANCEMENT TECHNIQUES FOR CHROMATOGRAPHY DETECTION SYSTEMS

The Environmental Protection Act has created a growing need for the me asurement and assessment of trace emissions to the environment. This e ncompasses three main areas of ground, water and the atmosphere. The n eed to achieve lower emissions has placed a large burden on analytical techniques, particularly in the areas of trace analysis to ppb and pp t levels. Chromatographic techniques ale widely used for assessment an d measurement of emissions in all th,ee areas. Enhanced detectors usin g mass spectrometry principles are available to lower detection limits , but these are expensive. Standard chromatography detectors can be us ed for trace analysis, but this often leads to extensive sample prepar ation stages to achieve low detection limits. This paper describes the techniques developed by Thomas Swan & Company to introduce a cost eff ective way of lowering detection limits. The approach taken meets both BATNEEC and BPEO constraints.