In
the SRI DGA GC, the sample is injected
by peristaltic pump through a unique gas extraction loop.
The gas extraction loop consists of permeation tubing encapsulated
in a trap-heated glass tube. The permeation tubing is plumbed
to the sample inlet, the 10-port gas sampling valve and
the waste/sample outlet.

When
the sample is pumped through the gas extraction loop, the
dissolved gases permeate through the membrane into the extraction
chamber. Solenoid valves are included for purging the gas
extraction loop with helium between runs.
By
reconnecting a few tubing lines, the DGA GC
can be configured to prepare dissolved gas standards. A
Tedlar bag, or other container, filled with gas standard
of a known concentration is connected to the standard pump.
The standards preparation vessel is filled with sample liquid,
such as sea water or waste water. The standard pump bubbles
gas standard into the standards preparation vessel, equilibrating
the liquid over time to the known concentration. Equlibration
takes about one hour.

Solubility of Gases in Water at 1%:
Hydrogen 0.016ppm
Oxygen 0.43ppm
To obtain these chromatograms, the DGA GC
standards preparation module was used to create 13ppb hydrogen
gas by weight in water: 1% hydrogen gas standard was pumped
through water in the standards preparation vessel for a
length of time sufficient to achieve equilibration. The
water in the standards preparation vessel was then pumped
into the gas extraction loop and run as the sample. The
TCD quantifies the large oxygen and nitrogen peaks, while
the sensitive HID detects hydrogen down to 13ppb.