Initial Work for Automation of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Water

Martin Perkins

10th March 2017

This application note describes the method development of an on-line automated solution for Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs). Development was in conjunction with Paul Leather, Environment Agency in July-Aug 2016. This method uses an automated liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) using the GERSTEL Agitator.

Using the Agilent 5977B with High Efficiency Source (HES) the concentration factor losses from miniaturising the sample preparation were accounted for. The HES source has been shown to give around 20-50 times sensitivity gains in comparison with the 5973C that is currently employed for the method.

A large volume injection (LVI) can then be used to achieve a similar concentration factor to the original method, whilst significantly reducing sample size and solvent usage.