US-20260126412-A1 - Gas Ion Distillation

US20260126412A1US 20260126412 A1US20260126412 A1US 20260126412A1US-20260126412-A1

Abstract

A method of separating chemical constituents by gas ion distillation, comprising introducing a gaseous sample into a reaction space at a pressure above about 10 torr, wherein the gaseous sample comprises at least two chemical constituents; introducing a gaseous reactant into the reaction space, wherein the reactant comprises reactant ions configured to selectively ionize the at least two chemical constituents of the sample; allowing the reactant ions to selectively ionize the at least two chemical constituents of the sample to form product ions, wherein the order of product ion formation is governed by the vapour concentrations of the at least two chemical constituents, the concentration of the reactant ions and the reaction rate coefficients of the at least two chemical constituents; and subsequently removing the ionized at least two constituents from the reaction space in the order of product ion formation.

Inventors

Gary Eiceman
Ansgar Kirk
Alexander Bohnhorst
Anne Zygmanowski
Maximilian Küddelsmann
Jyri Mikkilä
George PALLIS
George PSARRAS
Elie LATTOUF
Osmo Anttalainen
Paula VANNINEN
Hanna HAKULINEN
Andreas Walte
Bert Ungethuem
Oliver Hecht
Stefan Zimmermann

Assignees

UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI
AIRSENSE ANALYTICS GMBH
KARSA OY
T4I ENGINEERING PRIVATE COMPANY

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20240610
Priority Date: 20230613

Claims (20)

1 . A method of separating chemical constituents by gas ion distillation, comprising introducing a gaseous sample into a reaction space at a pressure above about 10 torr, wherein the gaseous sample comprises at least two chemical constituents; introducing a gaseous reactant into the reaction space, wherein the reactant comprises reactant ions configured to selectively ionize the at least two chemical constituents of the sample; allowing the reactant ions to selectively ionize the at least two chemical constituents of the sample to form product ions, wherein the order of product ion formation is governed by the vapour concentrations of the at least two chemical constituents, the concentration of the reactant ions and the reaction rate coefficients of the at least two chemical constituents; and subsequently removing the ionized at least two constituents from the reaction space in the order of product ion formation.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the reaction space is at or near ambient pressure.
3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising providing a flow of neutral gas into the reaction space in order to retain the gaseous sample in the reaction space.
4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein removing the ionized at least two constituents from the reaction space comprises conveying using electric fields.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the reactant ions comprise positive ions selected from the group of hydrated protons H + (H 2 O) n , ammonia ions (H 2 O) n NH 4 + and acetone ions such as (CH 3 COCH 3 ) 2 H + .
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the reactant ions comprise negative ions selected from the group of hydrated oxygen ions O 2 − (H 2 O) n and halogenated ions such as chloride or bromide ions.
7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the ionization of a chemical constituent is governed by the vapour concentration of the constituent, the concentration of the positive reactant ions, and the reaction rate coefficients k 1 and k 2 of the chemical constituents with the equation of d [ R + ] dt = - k 1 [ M ] [ R + ] - k 2 [ N ] [ R + ] .
8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the ionization of a chemical constituent is governed by the vapour concentration of the constituent, the concentration of the negative reactant ions with a similar equation.
9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein removing the ionized at least two constituents from the reaction space comprises conveying them to an analysis.
10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein removing the ionized at least two constituents from the reaction space comprises temporarily trapping them into the reaction space.
11 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the analysis comprises an analysis with an ion mobility spectrometer, a mass spectrometer or a further spectroscopic or electrochemical analytical instrument.
12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein introducing a gaseous reactant comprising reactant ions into the reaction space comprises introducing a gaseous reactant into the reactant space and generating the reactant ions therein.
13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the reactant ions are generated by ionization using radioactive sources, non-radioactive sources such as electron sources, electrical discharge sources such as corona or barrier discharge, X-ray sources, UV sources and/or lasers.
14 . An apparatus for separating chemical constituents by gas ion distillation, comprising a reaction space; means for introducing a gaseous sample into the reaction space at a pressure above about 10 torr, wherein the gaseous sample comprises at least two chemical constituents; means for introducing a gaseous reactant into the reaction space, wherein the reactant comprises reactant ions configured to selectively ionize the at least two chemical constituents of the sample; means for removing the ionized at least two constituents from the reaction space in the order of product ion formation, wherein the at least two chemical constituents have been ionized in the reaction space by allowing the reactant ions to selectively ionize the at least two chemical constituents of the sample to form product ions, wherein the order of product ion formation is governed by the vapour concentrations of the at least two chemical constituents, the concentration of the reactant ions and the reaction rate coefficients of the at least two chemical constituents.
15 . The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the reaction space is at or near ambient pressure.
16 . The apparatus of claim 14 , further comprising an analyzer, and an ion outlet for removing ions from the reaction space and configured to be attached to an analyzer, wherein the analyzer comprises an ion mobility spectrometer or a mass spectrometer or a further spectroscopic or electrochemical analytical instrument.
17 . (canceled)
18 . The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the means for removing the ionized at least two constituents from the reaction space comprise an arrangement for generating electric fields for transporting the ionized at least two constituents.
19 . The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the means for removing the ionized at least two constituents from the reaction space comprise an arrangement for generating electric fields temporarily trapping the ionized at least two constituents.
20 . The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the means for removing the ionized at least two constituents from the reaction space comprise an arrangement for removing the ionized at least two constituents temporally or spatially separated.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure generally relates to separation of chemical constituents in a chemical mixture. In particular, but not exclusively, the present disclosure relates to separation of chemical constituents in a chemical mixture in gaseous phase. In particular, but not exclusively, the present disclosure relates to separation of chemical constituents of a chemical mixture in gaseous phase at ambient pressure. BACKGROUND This section illustrates useful background information without admission of any technique described herein representative of the state of the art. Chemical mixtures are found today with nearly every item, whether of natural or synthetic origin, such as detergents, fuels, coatings, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and others, i.e., mixtures formulated to provide certain desirable physical and/or chemical properties. Examples of mixtures in the natural world are found in environmental systems and even in the products of human metabolic processes—e.g., breath, sweat—with tens to hundreds of volatile organic compounds, VOC, in a single sample. Different mixtures of chemicals are used also in chemical industry. Furthermore, there are situations, such as industrial accidents where various mixtures are inadvertently released sometimes in excessive amounts into our environment and might cause dangerous situations to first responders and others. Currently, technical challenges exist in determining the chemical identity of substances in ambient atmospheres with complex, or even simple, mixtures using chemical analyzers. A technical challenge in determining the chemical composition of a chemical mixture is the need for pre-separation of constituents since modern physical methods of analysis lack inherent selectivity to identify specific substances especially within a mixture or matrix. Chromatographic methods (or solvent extraction and conventional distillation) have been historic solutions to separating mixtures or matrix interferences. Although widely practiced, such methods contain practical and economical limitations, such as high material and energy costs, demand for solvents and their waste disposal, and prolonged separation times. Accordingly, there is a need for a separation technology that is fast, reliable and cost-effective. Furthermore, the technology should enable live measurements and be compatible with detectors such as mass spectrometers and ion mobility spectrometers. The inventors have found that using gas ion distillation that is based on chemical reactions instead of classic separation methods based on physical properties—such as solubility, vapour pressure and diffusion-based mass transport—mitigates the issues of the known technologies. Accordingly, it is the object of the present invention to mitigate the issues arising in separation and provide an improved separation of chemical constituents by gas ion distillation. SUMMARY The appended claims define the scope of protection. Any examples and technical descriptions of apparatuses, products and/or methods in the description and/or drawings not covered by the claims are presented not as embodiments of the invention but as background art or examples useful for understanding the invention. In an example aspect, there is provided a method of separating chemical constituents by gas ion distillation, comprising introducing a gaseous sample into a reaction space at a pressure above about 10 torr, wherein the gaseous sample comprises at least two chemical constituents;introducing a gaseous reactant into the reaction space, wherein the reactant comprises reactant ions configured to selectively ionize the at least two chemical constituents of the sample;allowing the reactant ions to selectively ionize the at least two chemical constituents of the sample to form product ions, wherein the order of product ion formation is governed by the vapour concentrations of the at least two chemical constituents, the concentration of the reactant ions and the reaction rate coefficients of the at least two chemical constituents; and subsequentlyremoving the ionized at least two constituents from the reaction space in the order of product ion formation. The reaction space may be at or near ambient pressure. The method may further comprise providing a flow of neutral gas into the reaction space in order to retain the gaseous sample in the reaction space. Removing the ionized at least two constituents from the reaction space may comprise conveying using electric fields. The reactant ions may comprise ions selected from the group of hydrated protons H+(H2O)n, ammonia ions (H2O)nNH4+ and acetone ions such as (CH3COCH3)2H+. The ionization of a chemical constituent may be governed by the vapour concentration of the constituent, the concentration of the reactant ions, and the reaction rate coefficients k1 and k2 of the chemical constituent with the equation of d[R+]dt=-k1[M][R+]-k2[N][R+]. Removing the ionized at least two constituents from the react