Help: Chromatography column suitable for separating H2, O2, N2, CO, CO2, and H2O
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We would like to purchase a chromatography column suitable for separating the six components of H2, O2, N2, CO, CO2, and water. The composition of the imported gas is as follows: H2: 1~1.2% ； O2 1.0～1.4% ； CO2 50～60% ； 0.2% CO and 0.5% H2O, with the remainder being N2. The required composition of the gas exiting the system is that the H2 content should be ≤10 PPm, with the remaining components remaining as they are. Please advise us on suitable stationary phases, column length, carrier gas, temperature, and current settings.
The TDX-01 column can be used for measurements. Using a single column might take a long time, so we opt for separate measurements. However, you could consider using helium as the carrier gas; the column length should be at least 5 meters. For N2, O2, and H2, peaks appear quickly at temperatures below 60 degrees, while there are no major issues with CO at around 50 degrees. For CO2 and water, it is recommended to use temperatures of 130 degrees or higher. It’s best to keep the column flow rate low, and the current can be adjusted appropriately depending on the intensity of the peaks in your sample.
Reply to 2# dalian*aochao: Hello! Thank you so much! Could you please provide the operating conditions, peak order, and retention times for each component? Since the required hydrogen content is 1–1.2% at the inlet and less than or equal to 10 PPM at the outlet, the operating conditions are quite stringent. Thank you, please reply
Since the analysis time for a single column is relatively long, and we aren’t necessarily required to analyze all components simultaneously, we opted for separate analyses: for hydrogen, we used 3m TDX-01 with column 60, using N2 as the carrier gas, an injection time of 120 seconds, and a detection time of 200 seconds; for CO, we used column 50 of the same column, while for CO2 and H2O we used column 130, with H2 as the carrier gas, an injection time of 120 seconds, and a detection time of 200 seconds. I didn’t use a single column for all these analyses, but you can try following my approach – it’s quite simple: prepare standard samples containing these components and then adjust the conditions to see how well they separate. For samples containing a single component, pay attention to the retention times. It’s recommended to keep the column flow rate low, as before, and use helium as the carrier gas; this will definitely enable separation, though the time required will likely be considerable. You may consider using partial program heating depending on the characteristics of your samples