Ethanol - Blood Headspace Analysis

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Analytical Techniques Experiment 3: DETERMINATION OF ALCOHOL IN BLOOD BY HEADSPACE ANALYSIS USING GAS LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY Contents Abstract | 2 | Introduction | 2 | Safety Precautions & Apparatus | 2 | Method | 3 | Results | 4 | Conclusions & Discussion | 6 | Abstract This report presents the use of Gas Liquid Chromatography to determine the concentration of ethanol in a provided sample of blood. 5 standard solutions of varying concentrations of ethanol were prepared with a constant concentration of propan-1-ol. The data from the standard solutions was tabulated and then input into a graph, producing a trend line for both Concentration of Ethanol vs. Peak Area of Ethanol and Concentration of Ethanol vs. the ratio of the peak areas of Ethanol and Propanol. The blood sample analysed can be determined to have an ethanol content of 0.09% by using the trend lines from Graphs 1 and 2 and the peak area of the blood sample that the chromatograph produced. Introduction The aim of this experiment was to accurately determine the concentration of ethanol in a sample of blood using gas liquid chromatography. Gas Liquid Chromatography has gas as the mobile stage and liquid as the stationary phase. A flame ionisation detector was used which depends on the formation of ions, and the source of the ions is a hydrogen-oxygen flame. The flame burns at a temperature that will produce positively charged ions and electrons from the organic compound used. Two electrodes are present to provide a voltage through the chromatograph, and when ions hit an internal ‘collector plate’ they induce a current. It is this current which is measured and produces the peaks, and the area of the peak will be proportional to the amount of the compound which is present. The flame ionisation detector detects oxidised carbon atoms (in the form of ions), and the current is

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