High-throughput reactor for simulating the flame photometric detector

Quenching of luminescing species by co-eluting hydrocarbons has been widely reported in the flame photometric detector (FPD). This paper describes a novel method of investigating the chemical behavior of both analyte and quencher molecules in the FPD. The method is designed to reproduce the FPD’s behaviour on a large scale by using a custom-built reactor. The high-throughput reactor’s multi-capillary burner, situated inside a glass housing, is well suited to approximate the low-temperature, fuel-rich conditions of the conventional FPD, and also allows the study of various other flame phenomena. Wide regions of gas composition can be accessed by both diffusion- and premixed-type flames, and products can be easily sampled. Effluent collection demonstrates that 2 to 82% of various organic compounds may survive passage through the diffusion flame and be recovered intact. The recovery of several (unchanged) model hydrocarbons was found to decrease with increasing carbon number. Hetero-atoms such as sulfur, nitrogen, or oxygen greatly decrease the recovery of molecules relative to their pure hydrocarbon analogues. Compared to a diffusion flame, the recoveries of n-alkanes from a premixed flame are much lower and largely independent of carbon number or volatility.