The Analyzer Source

Dr. Jack Driscoll (@pidguy), President of PID Analyzers, a Sandwich STEM Academy Science Advisory Board Member and STEM Academy grandparent, was an exhibitor at the STEM Academy Clean Energy Day This event was funded through Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, through a grant that was written and facilitated by the Sandwich STEM Academy Science and Engineering teachers and took place at Sandwich High School for Sandwich students in Grades 6, 7 and 8 on Tuesday, May 22nd (9:30am-2pm) and showcased and celebrated renewable energies. The Clean Energy Fair’s mission is to promote sustainable and renewable energy through hands-on education. The event included a brief welcoming ceremony, an energy carnival, hands-on learning energy activities, exhibitor booths, a “passport” to record their learning experiences, and a gift bag for all students. Grade 7 and 8 students attended a brief welcoming ceremony in the auditorium, then headed to the gym, where they spent a total of 75 minu

ABSTRACT SYMPOSIUM NAME:  Joint Symposium of the Separation Science Subdivisions  ABSTRACT SYMPOSIUM PROGRAM AREA NAME: ANYL CONTROL ID:  2980438 PRESENTATION TYPE:  Oral TITLE: GC/FUV for analysis of ambient (ppb level) greenhouse gases AUTHORS (FIRST NAME, LAST NAME):  Jennifer L. Maclachlan 1 ,  John N. Driscoll 1 INSTITUTIONS (ALL):  1. PID Analyzers, LLC, Centerville, MA, United States.  ABSTRACT BODY:  Abstract:  We have recently improved the sensitivity of our far UV absorbance detector by nearly an order of magnitude so that it can now detect ppb levels of methane (CH 4 ), nitrous oxide (N2O) and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ). We have added a concentrator to our Portable GC 312 so that we can further improve the accuracy of the measurement. Nearly a decade ago the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) required large emitters of heat-trapping emissions to begin collecting greenhouse gas data under a new reporting system since CH 4 , N 2 O, & , CO 2  , since these

ABSTRACT SYMPOSIUM NAME:  Advances in Sensors and Biosensors for Environmental Monitoring ABSTRACT SYMPOSIUM PROGRAM AREA NAME:  ENVR CONTROL ID:  2976537 PRESENTATION TYPE:  Oral Only TITLE:  Photoionization detector with sealed or windowless discharges for ppb detection of VOC’s or and or fixed gases AUTHORS (FIRST NAME, LAST NAME):  John N. Driscoll 2 ,  Jennifer L. Maclachlan 1 INSTITUTIONS (ALL):  1. PID Analyzers, LLC, Centerville, MA, United States.  2. PID Analyzers, LLC, Sandwich, MA, United States.  ABSTRACT BODY:  Abstract:  The Photoionization detector (PID) with a 10.6 eV lamp and a sealed window has been shown to be 50-80 times more sensitive for aromatic hydrocarbons than the flame ionization detector (FID) but the 10.6 PID does not respond to small molecules like formaldehyde, chloro alkanes, MeOH, C 2 -C 4  alkanes, The 11.7 PID will respond to many of these compounds with sub ppm detection limits but it has a lithium fluoride window that results in decrea

ABSTRACT SYMPOSIUM NAME:  Analytical Division Poster Session ABSTRACT SYMPOSIUM PROGRAM AREA NAME:  ANYL CONTROL ID:  2980432 PRESENTATION TYPE:  Poster TITLE: Analysis and identification of ppb levels of VOC’s in ambient air via GC-PID-FID AUTHORS (FIRST NAME, LAST NAME):  John N. Driscoll 1 ,  Jennifer L. Maclachlan 1 INSTITUTIONS (ALL):  1. PID Analyzers, LLC, Centerville, MA, United States.  ABSTRACT BODY:  Abstract:  We have developed a GC system with a PID/FID in-series that will concentrate an ambient air sample so that low ppb or even ppt levels of VOCs in ambient air can be detected. We have shown that the PID (10.6 EV) has a response that increases with the number of double bonds while the FID does not have the same dependence. All these structures have the same response for the FID. This feature can be utilized to identify alkanes, alkenes and aromatic hydrocarbons in a concentrated ambient air sample. Using a capillary column, the PID /FID ratios were 15 (alkane