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Specialty Gas

Gas chromatography is a key tool in the analysis of trace components in high purity gases used at pharmaceutical, electronics, petrochemical, food and beverage plants, and medical facilities, or in support gases for analytical instrumentation in laboratories and research facilities. Mixed gases are also carefully quantified to be used for the calibration of analytical or process instruments.

Known advantages of VUV Spectroscopy

  • Provides real-time bulk and specialty gas data, enabling improved process control
  • Blended gas samples can be analyzed with one detector that is not dependent on chromatographic separation
  • Overlapping signals can be easily deconvolved using VUV software
  • Improved sensitivity advantage of 100 – 1000X over FTIR
  • Easy to understand analysis by Beer-Lambert Law (same principle used in UV-Vis spectroscopy)

SEE THE LATEST ABOUT SPECIALTY GAS ANALYSIS BY VUV SPECTROSCOPY

Learn more about the SVGA-100 streaming gas analyzer.  The SVGA-100 is the world’s first streaming gas detector using vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) spectroscopy for real-time quantitative analysis.   Most chemical compounds absorb strongly in VUV absorbance wavelength range (120 –  240 nm). Photons in this region can produce electronic transitions in virtually all chemical bonds, especially in ground state to excited state transitions such as σ→ σ* and π→ π*.  The result of being able to collect all of the electronic transition data is that every compound has a unique spectral profile in the VUV.   The SVGA-100 is a universal detector with unmatched selectivity  that  is designed  for  real-time  bulk  and  specialty  gas  monitoring  with  no  need  for  prior  chromatographic separation.

Read the SVGA-100 technical summary
Download the SVGA-100 brochure

Solving Analytical Challenges in Specialty Gas

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Key Features of VUV Spectroscopy

  • High degree of data analysis automation reduces human error
  • Intuitive spectral fingerprint compound identification and Beer’s Law quantitation eliminates guesswork
  • Software deconvolution of co-eluting analytes allows chromatography runtimes to be deliberately compressed
  • Proprietary algorithms automate compound class characterization

Spectral Identification

Shining a new light in gas chromatography and streaming gas applications.

Everything absorbs strongly in the VUV spectrum. Compounds can be unambiguously identified and quantitated in a variety of applications including oil & gas, forensics, fragrances & flavors, petrochemical, environmental, and life science. VUV detectors provide unmatched selectivity of isomers and co-eluting analytes without the need for chromatographic baseline resolution.  Unlike legacy detection methods, VUV spectroscopy allows for more automated analysis with lower risk of errors, shorter chromatography run times, and higher analytical throughput.

  • Universal, yet selective detector with very sensitive spectral response
  • Easy deconvolution and quantitation of co‑eluting analytes
  • Robust technology with no reliance on vacuum pumps
  • No calibration required – 1st principle detection technique provides a predictable linear response
  • Complements mass spectrometry by fully characterizing isomers and compounds with low mass quant ions
Publication
VUV en Vogue – The Analytical Scientist
The Analytical Scientist
Publication
An Interview with Dr. Nicholas Snow About Gas Chromatography and VUV Spectroscopy
Paul Johnson, VUV Analytics
Publication
Permanent gas analysis using GC with VUV detection. – Journal of Chromatography A
Journal of Chromatography A
Blog
Analyzing Ethanol in Diesel with Static Headspace – GC-VUV
Jack Cochran, VUV Analytics
Enter the Knowledge Base

  • “The VUV detector has proven itself with the ability to distinguish olefins and aromatics from aliphatics – that’s a killer application given the complexity and time involved using any other technique. The VUV detector’s ability to perform a more accurate and much more robust PIONA analysis is an important milestone in its ongoing success.”

    Bill Winniford, Fellow

    Bill Winniford, Fellow, The Dow Chemical Company, Houston, Texas, USA

  • “VUV spectroscopy adds a dimension that is complementary to mass spectrometry, offering selectivity that is difficult to otherwise obtain.”

    Hans-Gerd Janssen, Professor and Science Leader

    Hans-Gerd Janssen, Professor, University of Amsterdam, and Science leader, Unilever Research Vlaardingen, the Netherlands

  • “One of the main advantages of VUV detection for us appeared to be the ability to gain more specific molecular information…co-elutions that we know exist but cannot be identified with FID can be unraveled.”

    Pierre Giusti, Molecular Separation & Identification Service Manager, and Gaelle Jousset, Gas Chromatography Laboratory Manager

    Pierre Giusti, Molecular Separation & Identification Service Manager, and Gaelle Jousset, Gas Chromatography Laboratory Manager, Research & Development, TOTAL Refining & Chemicals, Normandy, France

  • “The VUV detector will be used as a universal, calibration-free tool that provides the relative quantitative values of distinct molecules in mixtures in a rapid manner.”

    Luigi Mondello, Chair of ISCC and GCxGC Conference in Riva del Garda, and Professor

    Luigi Mondello, Chair of ISCC and GCxGC Conference in Riva del Garda, and Professor, University of Messina, Italy

  • “One thing that I really like about VUV is that it can be considered a universal detector but with the advantage of being familiar to us. We all used UV spectrometers in school.”

    Nicholas Snow, Professor

    Nicholas Snow, Professor, Seton Hall University, New Jersey, USA

  • “Eliminates ionization inefficiencies that are encountered in mass spectrometry analysis."

    Mark R. Emmett, Ph.D.

    Mark R. Emmett, Ph.D. Professor, The University of Texas Medical Branch Galveston, UTMB Cancer Research Center

  • “An amazingly simple concept extended into a powerful spectral region."

    Tim Hossain, Ph.D.

    Tim Hossain, Ph.D. Chief Scientist, Cerium Laboratories

  • “The VUV detector is a powerful new tool in the GC toolbox."

    Kevin A. Schug, Ph.D.

    Kevin A. Schug, Ph.D. Professor & Shimadzu Distinguished Professor of Analytical Chemistry, The University of Texas at Arlington