Rapid determination of methanol in black liquors by full evaporation headspace gas chromatography

This paper reported a full evaporation headspace gas chromatographic (GC) technique for determination of methanol content in black liquors (pulping spent liquor). In this method, a very small volume (10-20 microL) of liquor sample is introduced into a headspace sample vial (20 mL) and heated up to a temperature of 105 degrees C. A near-complete mass transfer of methanol from the liquid phase to vapor phase (headspace), i.e., a full evaporation, can be achieved within 3 min. The methanol in the headspace of the vial is then measured by GC. The present method is simple, rapid and accurate.