Routine employment of the high temperature pyrolysis technology - An overview

Full text: The high temperature pyrolysis technology (HTP) for the quantitative conversion of hydrogen and oxygen is used since some years in different laboratories for the isotope measurement. The HTP technology is an advancement of the elementary analyzer technology. The principle of this technique is the oxidation and/or pyrolysis reaction from the sample to the analyses products by higher temperature. Typical for the elemental analysis is a temperature range from 1020 to 1100 deg. C. The temperature for the HTP is increased to 1350-1500 deg. C. Three kinds of samples will be discussed: organic substances, some inorganic substances and water. The focus in this discussion will be the daily laboratory program with the HTP technology. Different plans for the reactor design, for the injectors and for different autosampler are discussed. Examples of usable reference materials, the calibration of the raw data against international scales and some sources of error are represented and discussed. (author)