A Microvolume Thermal Conductivity Detector for Online Gas Analysis

摘要

Optimizing a thermal conductivity detector for online gas chromatography entails improvements that enhance data quality and repeatability while minimizing degradation of column performance by the detector itself. The analysis of natural gas is important for several reasons: calculation of physical properties (e.g., calorific value), identification of source, and measurement of gas quality. For the calculation of calorific value, relative density, and compressibility, the heavier hydrocarbons are typically measured as a composite (e.g., C_6+). To calculate phase properties such as hydrocarbon dew point, however, the heavier components should be further characterized. Small variations (i.e., errors) in the composition, especially in the heavier hydrocarbons, can result in large variations of hydrocarbon dew point.