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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

ANALYTICAL METHOD FOR MEASURING TOTAL PROTIUM AND TOTAL DEUTERIUM IN A GAS MIXTURE CONTAINING H2, D2,AND HD VIA GAS CHAROMATOGRAPHY

Conference ·
OSTI ID:913129

The most common analytical method of identifying and quantifying non-radioactive isotopic species of hydrogen is mass spectrometry. A low mass, high resolution mass spectrometer with adequate sensitivity and stability to identify and quantify hydrogen isotopes in the low ppm range is an expensive, complex instrument. A new analytical technique has been developed that measures both total protium (H) and total deuterium (D) in a gas mixture containing H{sub 2}, D{sub 2}, and HD using an inexpensive micro gas chromatograph (GC) with two molecular sieve columns. One column uses D{sub 2} as the carrier gas and the other uses H{sub 2} as the carrier gas. Laboratory tests have shown that when used in this configuration the GC can measure both total protium and total deuterium each with a detection and quantification limit of less than 20 ppm.

Research Organization:
SRS
Sponsoring Organization:
DOE
DOE Contract Number:
AC09-96SR18500
OSTI ID:
913129
Report Number(s):
WSRC-STI-2007-00416
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English