Chromatographic measurement of hydrogen isotopic and permanent gas impurities in tritium

This paper describes a gas chromatograph that was designed for dedicated analysis of hydrogen isotopic and permanent gas impurities in tritium and tritium-deuterium mixtures. The instrument that was developed substantially improved the accuracy and precision of hydrogen isotopic analysis in the 20 ppM to one mole percent range as compared with other analytical methods. Several unique design features of the instrument were required due to the radiation and isotopic exchange properties of the tritium in the samples; descriptions of these features are presented along with details of the complete chromatographic system. The experimental procedures used to calibrate the detector and statistically evaluate its performance are given, and the sources of analytical error are cited. The limitations of the present system are also discussed