Gas Chromatography (GC) is an analytical technique in the chemistry field widely used to separate compounds present in a sample mixture. Conventional GC systems are an extremely versatile and powerful tool to perform complex separations. However, these systems come with the cost of being bulky and requiring a high amount of power for operation. With considerable research for over 40 years, the advent of Micro-Gas Chromatography (µGC) made it possible for miniaturized, compact, low-power, and field portable GC systems. This thesis presents a portable µGC system that enables real-time analysis of complex compound separations, made possible with the use of multiple separation columns and a novel multidimensional compound identification algorithm. The system architecture and the software design with multiple features enabling portability of the µGC system are discussed. A set of microfabricated separation columns (µSCs) and photoionization detectors (PIDs) are integrated to realize a fully functional µGC system that is tested with different types of complex compound mixtures. An in-depth analysis of processing the output chromatograms obtained from the setup for signal filtering and peak detection is described in this thesis. A multidimensional analysis for compound identification in complex mixtures is presented. / Master of Science / Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are generally chemicals that have high vapor pressure and low boiling points used and produced in the processing of petroleum products, paint, refrigerants, pharmaceuticals, and adhesives. VOCs are emitted as gases from certain solids or liquids, some of which may have short- and long-term adverse health effects even with minute exposure. Gas Chromatography (GC) is a common analytical technique used to detect, identify, and quantify VOCs in the environment, and conventional GC Systems have been utilized for this purpose. The separation of compounds occurs inside an analytical column that has selective interaction between the column and the analytes passing through.
However, these systems are expensive, bulky, consume high power, and require expertise to operate. Recently, advancements in the Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) field has paved the way to create Micro-Gas Chromatography (µGC) systems with improved performance when compared to traditional systems. Active research is ongoing to improve the portability of µGC systems for reliable and quick on-field analysis. In this thesis, we present a µGC system that has a robust and scalable design that allows the development of a portable µGC system. The compound separation of complex mixtures is showcased using the portable µGC system setup. The output chromatograms obtained from the µGC system are pre-processed, which involves noise filtering and peak detection, followed by an analysis using a multidimensional compound identification algorithm.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/114118 |
| Date | 16 March 2023 |
| Creators | Sharma, Arjun |
| Contributors | Electrical and Computer Engineering, Nazhandali, Leyla, Agah, Masoud, Xiong, Wenjie |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | ETD, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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