Flame Ionization Detector - Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
Flame Ionization Detector - Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
Flame Ionization Detector - Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flame_ionization_detector
A flame ionization detector (FID) is a scientific instrument that measures the concentration of organic species in a gas stream. It is frequently used as a detector in gas chromatography. Standalone FIDs can also be used in applications such as landfill gas monitoring and fugitive emissions monitoring in stationary or portable instruments.
Contents
1 History 2 Operating principle 3 Advantages and disadvantages 3.1 Advantages 3.2 Disadvantages 4 Operation 5 Description of a generic detector 6 See also 7 References 8 Sources
History
The first flame ionization detector was developed in 1957 by scientists working for the CSIRO in Melbourne, Australia.[1][2][3]
Operating principle
The operation of the FID is based on the detection of ions formed during combustion of organic compounds in a hydrogen flame. The generation of these ions is proportional to the concentration of organic species in the sample gas stream. Hydrocarbons generally have molar response factors that are equal to number of carbon atoms in their molecule, while oxygenates and other species that contain heteroatoms tend to have a lower response factor. Carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide are not detectable by FID.
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maintenance. Rugged construction: FIDs are relatively resistant to misuse. Linearity and detection ranges: FIDs can measure organic substance concentration at very low and very high levels, having a linear response of 10^6.
Disadvantages
Flame ionization detectors cannot differentiate between different organic substances. They also cannot detect inorganic substances. In some systems, CO and CO2 can be detected in the FID using a methanizer, which is a bed of Ni catalyst that reduces CO and CO2 to methane, which can be in turn detected by the FID. Another important disadvantage is that the FID flame oxidizes all compounds that pass through it; all hydrocarbons and oxygenates are oxidized to carbon dioxide and water and other heteroatoms are oxidized according to thermodynamics. For this reason, FIDs tend to be the last in a detector train and also cannot be used for preparatory work.
Operation
In order to detect these ions, two electrodes are used to provide a potential difference. The positive electrode doubles as the nozzle head where the flame is produced. The other, negative electrode is positioned above the flame. When first designed, the negative electrode was either tear-drop shaped or angular piece of platinum. Today, the design has been modified into a tubular electrode, commonly referred to as a collector plate. The ions thus are attracted to the collector plate and upon hitting the plate, induce a current. This current is measured with a high-impedance picoammeter and fed into an integrator. The manner in which the final data is displayed is based on the computer and software. In general, a graph is displayed that has time on the x-axis and total ion on the y-axis. The current measured corresponds roughly to the proportion of reduced carbon atoms in the flame. Specifically how the ions are produced is not necessarily understood, but the response of the detector is determined by the number of carbon atoms (ions) hitting the detector per unit time. This makes the detector sensitive to the mass rather than the concentration, which is useful because the response of the detector is not greatly affected by changes in the carrier gas flow rate.
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See also
Flame detector Thermal Conductivity Detector Gas Chromatography Active fire protection Photoionization detector
References
1. ^ Scott, R. P. W., 1957, Vapour Phase Chromatography, Ed. D. H. Desty (London: Butterworths), p. 131. 2. ^ McWilliam, I. G.; Dewar, R. A. "Flame Ionization Detector for Gas Chromatography". Nature 181 (4611): 760. Bibcode:1958Natur.181..760M (http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1958Natur.181..760M). doi:10.1038/181760a0 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1038%2F181760a0). 3. ^ Morgan, D J (1961). "Construction and operation of a simple flameionization detector for gas chromatography" (http://iopscience.iop.org /0950-7671/38/12/321). J. Sci. Instrum. 38 (12): 501. Bibcode:1961JScI...38..501M (http://adsabs.harvard.edu /abs/1961JScI...38..501M). doi:10.1088/0950-7671/38/12/321 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1088%2F0950-7671%2F38%2F12%2F321). Retrieved 2009-03-18.
Sources
Skoog, Douglas A., F. James Holler, & Stanley R. Crouch. Principles of Instrumental Analysis. 6th Edition. United States: Thomson Brooks/Cole, 2007. Halsz, I. & W. Schneider. Quantitative Gas Chromatographic Analysis of Hydrocarbons with Capillary Column and Flame Ionization Detector. Analytical Chemistry. 33, 8 (July 1961): 978-982 G.H. JEFFERY , J.BASSET , J.MENDHAM , R.C.DENNEY, "VOGEL'S TEXTBOOK OF QUANTITATIVE CHEMICAL ANALYSIS."
FID Schematic
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