Analysis of C1 and C2 hydrocarbon gas mixtures using miniaturized gas chromatography and SnO2 gas detectors

In this paper the application of miniaturized gas chromatography for analysis of gas mixtures containing hydrocarbons with one and two carbon atoms is presented. The focus is on the quantitative measurement of ethylene gas which is important for post-harvest applications in e.g. fruit logistics. A miniaturized gas chromatographic column packed with Carboxen 1000 was combined with a SnO₂ gas detector. The system is able to measure absolute amounts of ethylene gas in nl-range. To demonstrate the chromatographic ability of the system a gas mixture containing seven gases with C₁ and C₂ was separated using the measurement system.