The development of a volatile organics concentrator for use in monitoring Space Station water quality
A breadboard concept of a volatile organics concentrator (VOC) is manufactured and tested for optimized water-quality analysis in a space environment. The VOC system is attached to a gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer to analyze the volatile chemicals relevant to the operation of Space Station Freedom. The preliminary tests include: (1) comparisons with analyses based on direct on-column injections of standards; (2) analyses of iodinated volatile organics; (3) comparisons of nitrogen vs helium as the chromatography carrier gas; and (4) measurements of collection efficiency. The VOC can analyze EPA method-624 analytes at comparable detection using flame-ionization detection and can analyze volatile iodinated compounds. The breadboard has good reproducibility and can use nitrogen as a carrier gas; good results are noted for the collection and concentration levels and for water removal.