Why VUV Technology Matters

VUV Analytics, Inc. is a detector company that is becoming more popular, despite being relatively new to the petrochemical industry.? There are many who have not heard of them, and those who have heard of them are definitely VUV Curious.?

To a seasoned Chemist/Chromatographer, the benefit of the VUV technology is obvious, unfortunately, if you read my previous article Why The Laboratory Matters, you will understand why it is not in every laboratory yet.? The fact of the matter is that the population of Chemists who have gotten their hands on a VGA is small, it is hard to sell upper management on a new technology.? The closest that many Chemists will get to a VGA 100 or VGA 101, is the brochure that they picked up at a conference like the Gulf Coast Conference, Inc,? they probably keep it tucked away nicely in their desk drawer, just waiting for the opportunity to pull it out at the perfect moment when the budget opens up at the beginning of the 4th quarter, and the right engineer approaches them with a problem that could easily be handled by the coveted VUV… that’s what I did.

So why does the VUV technology matter?

It matters because it is a game changer, I call it the Rosetta Stone for laboratories.? It simplifies chemical analysis, anyone can do this, with little training!? Processing time is automated and completed in about a minute with no user input.? With the spectral library, components are verified, and the data remains stable.? This instrument gives a true representation of what is going on in the process, and it is unaffected by changes in concentration, no need to adjust retention times.

How does VUV technology change the game??

It changes it by simplifying quantitation and identification of the components in a hydrocarbon mixture.? The most powerful and attractive method that VUV Analytics has is ASTM D8369 Standard Test Method for Detailed Hydrocarbon Analysis by High Resolution Gas Chromatography with Vacuum Ultraviolet Absorption Spectroscopy (GC-VUV).? D8369 can help any laboratory right now.? This method can identify and quantitate the unknowns in your sample now, and unlike the GC-MS, no extra calibration is needed.? Yes, you read this right, no calibration needed.? To calibrate the instrument, you need an RT standard as well as a PIONA standard. Once you dial it in, set it and forget it.? You can analyze and quantitate anything under C15 instantly.? ?This alternative method to D6730 Standard Test Method for Determination of Individual Components in Spark Ignition Engine Fuels by 100-Metre Capillary (with Precolumn) High-Resolution Gas Chromatography, includes a library with upwards of 1400 UV spectra, and since the VGA-100 scans a wide range of spectra simultaneously, it has the power to deconvolute coeluting peaks.? This means it is not necessary to have baseline resolution of the different analytes.? Since this is using a UV Spectra, even if the component is not in the library, as the component may be too complex to obtain standards, the functional groups remain the same allowing an accurate characterization of the sample, paraffin, isoparaffin, aromatic, naphthene, oxygenate, even into the C15 region, in addition, new spectra can be added to the library at any time.? Traditional Detailed Hydrocarbon Analysis cannot do this, the VUV technology effectively renders traditional DHA obsolete.

How is it possible to not calibrate and still quantitate on the VGA-100/101.?

The answer is a combination of Beer’s Law, relative response factors and normalization.? Since everything absorbs, you can assume that 100% of the samples has been detected and this opens the door to normalization.? Normalization is the special sauce!? This means that essentially you can inject any matrix, liquid, gas, LPG, and you get the right number, providing none of the components are saturated, which can be remedied simply by injection amount or split flow.? If that doesn’t impress you, let me explain.

The easiest standards to obtain are liquid standards, you can probably overnight just about any calibration standards that are typically used in a laboratory.? Gas and LPG standards however are a different story, typical lead time is 4 to 6 weeks.? You must discuss your needs with the manufacturer, anticipate what concentration is needed and they must do complex calculations to see what they would need to do to have a stable calibration standard based on dewpoints, reactivity, etc., not to mention you now must pay rent on a heavy cylinder that must be carted around the lab to inject into the GC.? If a new unknown pops up in your samples, you have to do this all over again.

Unlike the GC-MS, the VGA-100/101 is easy to maintain, and no specialized training is needed for the technician, as the lamp intensity degrades, you can adjust the mirror, until finally changing the lamp, which is as simple as changing a light bulb.

The engineers will love this data, they will finally be able to achieve mass balance, but the instrument is not limited to process samples, what about that hydrocarbon layer in wastewater, or the occasional spill.? Or that product that suddenly is heavier than normal.? Use your imagination, I have some ideas that I will eventually share.? In addition, paired with Envantage, Inc. Dragon DHA II, there are many calculated values such as Diolefin content, Predicted Octane values, RVP, etc. and simulated distillation distribution!

VUV technology is significant, and the reason I am excited about it is that we in the scientific community have an opportunity to collaborate in a way that hasn’t happened in our lifetime.? Traditionally we are locked away in our labs and our contributions are often overlooked, by people who do not understand our work, fueling our frustrations.? Together we can realize the potential that this technology has to offer.? While traditionally, we have been taught that we are competitors, this paradigm does not serve us.? The only person we should be competing with is ourselves and by working together we have the opportunity to learn and grow.? It simply is not enough for me to have the best data, if you can’t validate it for me.? If you see what I see, please join the effort to shift our paradigm!