Today, as the price of helium continues to increase; alternate carrier gases are drawing increased attention. Nitrogen and hydrogen are commonly applied to GC applications, however most GC/MS applications are performed with helium.
When carrier gas is changed, analytical method modifications are necessary to achieve optimal resolution and speed. Additional modifications to data processing methods are necessary to account for changes in analyte retention time.
Using single quadrapole mass spectrometry for detection increases the complexity of method modifications by adding variables of detector response and detector pressure.
The purpose of this work is to apply both hydrogen and nitrogen to common GC/MS applications and identify the benefits and challenges of each. The applications demonstrated here are the analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and pesticides. The applications will be optimized for each carrier gas; a number of variables will be explored, including column dimensions and carrier gas flow rate. Finally, any changes in run time, resolution, and detection limit will be reported.
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