A novel sample introduction technique for combustion total organic carbon analysis in aqueous materials

A modification of the sample introduction system for combustion total organic carbon analyzers is presented where sample is sprayed into the instrument. Thermally created sprays and nebulizer sprays are discussed. It is shown that spray introduction gives more symmetric signals, less effective noise and less signal tailing than conventional drip sample introduction. This performance improvement can be especially important in applications where the aqueous sample contains dissolved solids and corrosive materials. Lining the inside of the combustion tube with nickel foil also provided an increase in the lifetime due to protection from thermal shock from the cooler liquid sample.