Gas chromatography at the Tritium Laboratory Karlsruhe

Among the analytical techniques (mass spectrometry, laser Raman spectroscopy, gas chromatography, use of ionisation chambers) employed at the Tritium Laboratory Karlsruhe (TLK), gas chromatography plays a prominent role. The main reasons for that are the simplicity of the gas chromatographic separation process, the small space required for the equipment, the low investment costs in comparison to other methods, the robustness of the equipment, the simple and straightforward analysis and the fact that all gas species of interest (with the exception of water) can easily be detected by gas chromatographic means. The conventional gas chromatographs GC1 and GC2 used in the Tritium Measurement Techniques (TMT) System of the TLK and the gas chromatograph GC3 of the experiment CAPER are presented in detail, by discussing their flow diagrams, their major components, the chromatograms measured by means of various detectors, shortcomings and possible improvements. One of the main disadvantages of the conventional gas chromatography is the long retention times required for the analysis of hydrogen gas mixtures. To overcome this disadvantage, micro gas chromatography for hydrogen analysis was developed. Reduction of the retention times by one order of magnitude was achieved. (orig.)