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DE-112018002448-B4 - Spray chamber, sample atomization and introduction device, analysis device and method for analyzing components of a sample

DE112018002448B4DE 112018002448 B4DE112018002448 B4DE 112018002448B4DE-112018002448-B4

Abstract

Spray chamber (10), which includes: a sample inlet opening area (121) into which a gas stream is introduced containing sample droplets atomized by a nebulizer; an outlet opening area (110) which directs at least a portion of the gas flow introduced through the sample inlet opening area (121) to an exterior thereof; and a flow passage pipe section (13) which has the sample inlet opening area (121) at one end thereof and the outlet opening area (110) at the other end thereof and serves as a flow passage for the introduced gas flow, wherein the flow passage pipe section (13) comprises a first pipe section (11) having the outlet opening area (110) at an end region thereof, and a second pipe section (12), having the sample inlet opening area (121) at another end area thereof, the first pipe section (11) comprises a cylindrical area (112) comprising an end area opposite the end area having the outlet opening area (110) and a conical area (111) with an inner diameter which decreases successively towards one side of the outlet opening area (110), the second pipe section (12) comprises a cylindrical area (120) comprising an end area opposite the end area having the sample inlet opening area (121), wherein an outer diameter of the cylindrical area (120) of the second pipe section (12) is smaller than an inner diameter of the cylindrical area (112) of the first pipe section (11), the spray chamber (10) comprises a double pipe section (100) formed by overlapping at least a part of the cylindrical area (112) of the first pipe section (11) and the cylindrical area (120) of the second pipe section (12), and an outer side surface of the double tube section (100) is provided with an additional gas inlet opening and an additional gas inlet tube section (101), which serves as an introduction channel for introducing an additional gas into the double tube section (100) through the additional gas inlet opening, characterized in that an angle formed between a central axis direction of the sample inlet opening area (121) and a central axis direction of the cylindrical area (112) of the first tube section (11) ranges from 10° to 60°.

Inventors

  • Taisuke MIZUNO
  • Kazumi Inagaki
  • Shin-ichiro Fujii

Assignees

  • SUMCO CORPORATION

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20180424
Priority Date
20170512

Claims (15)

  1. Spray chamber (10) comprising: a sample inlet opening region (121) into which a gas stream containing sample droplets atomized by a nebulizer is introduced; an outlet opening region (110) which discharges at least a part of the gas stream introduced through the sample inlet opening region (121) to an exterior thereof; and a flow passage pipe section (13) having the sample inlet opening region (121) at one end region thereof and the outlet opening region (110) at the other end region thereof and serving as a flow passage for the introduced gas flow, wherein the flow passage pipe section (13) comprises a first pipe section (11) having the outlet opening region (110) at one end region thereof, and a second pipe section (12) having the sample inlet opening region (121) at another end region thereof, the first pipe section (11) comprising a cylindrical region (112) comprising an end region opposite the end region having the outlet opening region (110), and a conical region (111) with an inner diameter that decreases successively towards one side of the outlet opening region (110), the second pipe section (12) comprising a cylindrical region (120) comprising an end region opposite the end region, which has the sample inlet opening region (121), wherein an outer diameter of the cylindrical region (120) of the second pipe section (12) is smaller than an inner diameter of the cylindrical region (112) of the first pipe section (11), the spray chamber (10) comprises a double pipe section (100) formed by overlapping at least a part of the cylindrical region (112) of the first pipe section (11) and the cylindrical region (120) of the second pipe section (12), and an outer side surface of the double pipe section (100) is provided with an additional gas inlet opening and an additional gas inlet pipe section (101), which serves as an introduction channel for introducing an additional gas into the double pipe section (100) through the additional gas inlet opening, characterized in that an angle formed between a central axis direction of the sample inlet opening region (121) and a central axis direction of the cylindrical region (112) of the first pipe section (11) ranges from 10° to 60°.
  2. Spray chamber (10) after Claim 1 , wherein an angle formed by a central axis direction of the additional gas inlet pipe section (101) and a central axis direction of the cylindrical area (112) of the first pipe section (11) ranges from 90° to 130°.
  3. Spray chamber (10) after Claim 1 or 2 , wherein the additional gas inlet opening, using the center of the outer side surface of the double tube section (100) as a reference, is located at a position on the outer side surface of the double tube section (100) which is closer to the second tube section (12).
  4. Spray chamber (10) according to one of the Claims 1 until 3 , wherein the length of the double tube section (100) ranges from 10.0 mm to 30.0 mm.
  5. Spray chamber (10) according to one of the Claims 1 until 4 , wherein the difference between the inner diameter of the cylindrical section (112) of the first pipe section (11) and the outer diameter of the cylindrical section (120) of the second pipe section (12) ranges from 1.0 mm to 6.0 mm.
  6. Spray chamber (10) according to one of the Claims 1 until 5 , wherein a ratio, length/maximum diameter, of a length of the conical section (111) of the first pipe section (11) to a maximum inner diameter of the conical section (111) ranges from 0.5 to 3.0.
  7. Spray chamber (10) according to one of the Claims 1 until 6 , wherein the total length of the spray chamber (10) ranges from 80.0 mm to 200.0 mm.
  8. Spray chamber (10) according to one of the Claims 1 until 7 , wherein the first pipe section (11) and the second pipe section (12) are components which are made of glass, quartz or a fluorine resin.
  9. Spray chamber (10) according to one of the Claims 1 until 8 , wherein the outer side surface of the double pipe section (100) is provided with a waste liquid opening and a waste liquid pipe section (113), which serves as a waste liquid channel for the discharge of waste liquid from an interior of the double pipe section (100) to an outer part of the double pipe section (100) through the waste liquid opening.
  10. Sample atomization and introduction device comprising a spray chamber (10) and a nebulizer, wherein the spray chamber (10) is the spray chamber according to one of the Claims 1 until 9 is.
  11. Analysis device which includes the sample atomization and introduction device according to Claim 10 and includes an analysis unit.
  12. Analysis device according to Claim 11 , wherein an angle formed by a horizontal direction of an arrangement surface on which the sample atomization and introduction device is arranged and a central axis direction of the cylindrical area (112) of the first pipe section (11) of the spray chamber (10) ranges from 20° to 90°.
  13. Analysis device according to Claim 11 or 12 , which is an analytical device with inductively coupled plasma and the analytical device includes a plasma torch.
  14. Analysis device according to Claim 13 , which is a mass spectrometer device with inductively coupled plasma.
  15. Method for analyzing a component in a sample liquid, comprising: analysis of a component in a sample liquid to be analyzed using the analytical device according to one of the Claims 11 until 14 , and further includes: introducing an additional gas from the additional gas inlet pipe section (101) when a gas stream containing droplets of the sample liquid, which have been atomized by the nebulizer, flows through the flow passage pipe section (13) of the spray chamber (10).

Description

Technical field The present invention relates to a spray chamber, a sample atomization and introduction device, an analysis device and a method for analyzing components of a sample. State of the art A sample atomization and introduction device with nebulizer (atomizer) and spray chamber is provided in various types of analytical instruments to atomize a sample liquid and introduce the atomized sample liquid into an analytical unit in the form of droplets (see, for example, the Japanese patent application publication). JP H06-102249 A , which is expressly included herein by reference in its entirety). The document US 2013/0181126 A1 This document discloses a sample transfer device for transferring a dispersion of particles in a sample spray into a mass spectrometer for mass analysis. A sample of elementally labeled particles from the dispersion is transferred through a carrier aerosol spray into a gas stream for atomization and ionization by an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) source. The sample transfer device is configured to ensure complete sample consumption by passing the sample spray through a deceleration stage to slow it down from its high velocity. Following the deceleration stage, the slowed particle sample can be accelerated and focused by an acceleration stage for transfer into the ICP. This effectively improves particle transfer between the sample spray and the ICP. The document US 5 969 352 A Disclosing a spray chamber for preparing a sample for an analytical instrument that may contain a plasma torch, the chamber contains a heated envelope gas introduced into the outer region of the spray mist, surrounding and adjacent to its origin. This reduces the size of the recirculated droplets, thereby decreasing droplet agglomeration and promoting rapid drying of the spray mist. The document US 5 477 048 A Disclosure reveals an inductively coupled mass spectrometer for the detection of impurities. The basic structure of the spectrometer comprises: an atomizer connected to receive a solution of the sample and a gas, causing the atomizer to generate a spray in the form of a mist of droplets of the sample solution; a spray chamber arranged to receive the spray mist and classify the droplets within it; a plasma torch conducting a current of the sample solution and at least one gas; a radio frequency power source and a working coil connected to the plasma torch to supply energy for generating and maintaining a plasma that ionizes the sample solution in the current; and a mass detector arranged to receive the ionized sample solution from the plasma torch and to detect impurities in the ionized sample solution. The document JP H06-102249 A Disclosure is of a high-frequency induction-coupled plasma mass spectrometer arranged to convey a sample atomized by an atomizer through a spray chamber to a plasma torch. An outlet port of the spray chamber, connected to the plasma torch, is arranged as a double tube, and the atomized sample is applied to an inner tube of the double tube, while an envelope gas is applied to its outer tube. Summary of the invention In the sample atomization and introduction device described above, the sample liquid is converted into droplets in the nebulizer. Meanwhile, the spray chamber is able to sort the sample droplets according to particle size. Specifically, the spray chamber is primarily capable of sorting the sample droplets according to particle size differences based on gravitational differences, utilizing weight differences generated by variations in droplet particle size, and introducing the fine droplets into the analysis unit of the analytical device. The analytical sensitivity (e.g., the signal intensity) in the analytical unit of the analytical device, equipped with the sample atomization and introduction device described above and The number of droplets in an analysis unit is generally proportional to the efficiency of the sample introduction. Therefore, to improve analytical sensitivity, it is desirable to reduce the loss of sample droplets in the spray chamber so that more droplets are introduced into the analysis unit. One aspect of the present invention provides novel means that enable an improvement in the sensitivity of an analytical device which introduces droplets of the sample into the device and analyzes the sample. One aspect of the present invention relates to a spray chamber, including: a sample inlet opening area into which a gas stream containing sample droplets atomized by a nebulizer is introduced; an outlet opening area which discharges at least a part of the gas flow introduced into the sample inlet opening area to the outside; and a pipe section of a flow passage, comprising the sample inlet opening area at one end thereof and the outlet opening area at the other end thereof, and which serves as a flow passage for the introduced gas flow, wherein the pipe section of the flow passage includes a first pipe section which has the outlet opening area at one e