Natural Science Forum / Chemistry / Analytical Chemistry / January 2005

Editor's Page
....nothing is WORSE than Shimadzu's infamous reputation in the
analytical instrumentation field!
January 2005

Does anyone know any method for trace analysis of TPH (total petroleum
hydrocarbons) in groundwater?
I mean a method capable to determine TPH in ppb trough GC-FID or GC-MS.
thanks in advance

I have the chance of moving to a *major* chemical company and working in the
analytical lab (which is run as a service lab).  I would be a more senior
person and would be working on cases on a day-to-day basis.
This is very different from my current and past experience of working ...

There is reputedly a labview acquisition & analysis package from a
university --- hpib link to Agilent/HP 1050/1100/1090 [I'm not sure which]
Any leads would be much appreciated.
Cheers -

does anybody have experience with making standard gc-ms systems "(trans)
portable".
i am thinking of bringing a agilent 6890/5973 to a field site and
operate it there for a number of weeks. all necessary connectors and

Domnick Hunter UHP Zero Air Generators
(http://www.domnickhunter.com/product_desc.asp?product=153&group=20&industry=0&pa
geNo=1)
are a
great alternative to the Balston units. I don't

Before the trolls get me I must say that I agree, Shimadzu does
definitely suck in ways, but the purchase of the instrument was not my
choice.
I do however have a say in the carrier gas (air) generator that my lab

G'day folks,
I am at present re-commisioning a VG PQ3 ICP-MS that has been "given" to me,
but not the main chiller unit. I don't want to folk out the $AUS7000+ for a
new unit - consider the fact that the instrument is already 7 years old and

What do you think about Shimadzu analytical balances
for 0.1 mg /0.01 mg delta range ?  Has anyone used this
type of brand ?  any problems?
The Shimadzu were a lot cheaper (30% less) than the Mettler Toledo,

After creating certain amount of vacuum above the surface of a liquid
to be distilled, its vapors from boiling fill the vacuum, requiering
constant pumping to maintain the vacuum.  Is this correct ?
Miguel

Hi.  Can calcium carbonate and zinc form carbon monoxide?  If so, what
conditions need to be followed?  Does the calcium and zinc need to be
hot?  Do they need to be in a solution with water?

I want to study chemistry at a good college or university.  I live in
the US, but I will consider schools abroad.  What are some of the top
institutions to consider for an undergrad chemistry major?
Doug Miller

I also started recently again with vacuumdistillations for the first
time since the undergrad years. I, however, struggled most with
assembling the set-up in such a way that a very thing capillary is
entering the liquid to be distilled. This provides a small intake of

Hello, I have a few questions about sample preparation before HPLC and
after SPE.
After SPE I have 2ml of acetronitrile with my analyte.  I would like to
evaporate the acetronitrile and then reconstitute the analyte with 100-

First time user of sci.chem.analytical  ...  anyways, I was wondering
if anyone knows if a macro is available to compute retention index
values. I'm using GC/MS Chemstation (B build with Enviroquant
software). Been searching high and low with no luck! Thanks....