An extensive study has been made of the factors affecting sample dispersion in flow injection analysis. This has included the effect of different manifold parameters on peak height and shape, and the use of various flow models to describe the physical processes involved. The factors investigated included sample flow-rate, tube length and diameter, sample volume, and the diffusion coefficient of the solute. The role of the detector has also been investigated, and was found to exert a strong influence on the observed dispersion behaviour of a flow injection manifold. In the light of this, a low volume flow cell was constructed which minimised the contribution of the detector to dispersion. Different modes of sample injection ("time" and "slug" injection) have been studied, and an automatic valve constructed in connection with the work. Both new and existing flow models have been evaluated in terms of their ease-of-use and ability to predict peak shape. Conditions for which the different models were valid were derived both experimentally and from consideration of the assumptions of the models. The applications of such models to the characterisation and design of flow manifolds has also been considered, and this approach compared to the purely theoretical and empirical approaches that have been described in the literature. The models examined in this thesis are the convection, diffusion, tanks-in-series, well-stirred tank, two-tanks in- parallel and two-tanks-in-series models. Finally, the practical implications of this work for the design of flow injection manifolds and the derivation of so-called "rules for dispersion" have been discussed, and suggestions made for further areas of research.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:722235 |
| Date | January 1987 |
| Creators | Stone, David C. |
| Publisher | Loughborough University |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/13607 |
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