JP3412058B2 - Concentration analysis method and device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a concentration analysis method and apparatus, and more specifically, to impurity gases such as methane and carbon dioxide contained in gases mainly used in the semiconductor field such as silane, arsine and phosphine, or The present invention relates to a concentration analysis method and device for highly sensitive and rapid analysis of silane, arsine, phosphine, etc. as impurities.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The gas (semiconductor material gas) used in the semiconductor field contains at least one of the above impurities, and is usually analyzed by a gas chromatograph or a gas chromatograph mass spectrometer. However, as semiconductor elements have been highly integrated in recent years, demands for high purification of the semiconductor material gas have become strict, and the impurity concentration is several ppt.
An extremely small amount of detection sensitivity of about several ppb is required.

Generally, when the concentration of impurities in the sample gas is low and cannot be detected as it is by a usual analytical method,
Impurities in the sample gas are concentrated. As a concentration method, the sample gas is passed through a column filled with an adsorbent to once adsorb and collect impurities in the sample gas, and then the collected impurities are desorbed and concentrated in a carrier gas.・ Many methods have been adopted that accompany and send to analysis systems.

As the adsorbent used in the above-mentioned concentration method, an adsorbent having a good selective adsorption property to the impurity component of interest is used. However, when the main component in the sample gas is the semiconductor material gas, the main component is usually the main component. Since the semiconductor material gas is also adsorbed and desorbed by the adsorbent, the separation of the impurity component and the main component becomes insufficient, and the gas sent to the analysis system contains not only the impurity component but also the main component gas. As a result, there are inconveniences such that the improvement of the detection sensitivity is restricted and the main component gas becomes an obstruction factor for the gas chromatographic analysis operation. Therefore, in analyzing trace impurities in the semiconductor material gas, various measures have been taken to isolate only impurity components.

For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-278458 discloses a method and apparatus for concentrating and analyzing the impurities in the semiconductor material gas. The outline is as follows.First, the sample gas is pre-treated for pretreatment, and the impurity gas, which is the component to be analyzed in the sample gas, and the semiconductor material gas, which is the main component, are roughly separated and only the main component is discharged to the outside. After repeating the operation of introducing the gas enriched with the analyte component into the concentration tube and concentrating it, introduce the concentrated gas into the concentration tube into the main column, where the analyte component is separated into single components. And send it to the quantification device.

The concentration analysis method described in the above publication will be described based on the concentration analysis apparatus shown in FIG. In the following description, in the separation on the precolumn, the main component has a slower outflow time from the precolumn than the analyte, and
The case where both peaks do not overlap will be described as an example.

First, the first switching valve 1, the second switching valve 2 and the third switching valve 3 are switched to the flow paths shown by the solid lines in FIG. 2, respectively, and the sample gas from the sample gas source S is switched to the first switching valve. The first carrier gas from the carrier gas source C is exhausted through the valve 1, the metering pipe 4 and the flow path 5, and the first switching valve 1, the pre-column 6, the second switching valve 2, the third switching valve 3, and the concentrating pipe 7 are used. ，
After being introduced into the metering device A through the third switching valve 3 and the main column 8, the gas is exhausted through the flow path 9 and the second carrier branched from the carrier gas source C into the flow path 10 before the first switching valve 1. The gas is discharged to the outside of the system through the dummy column 11, the second switching valve 2 and the choke column 12.

Next, the first switching valve 1 is switched to the flow path on the broken line side, the sample gas in the measuring pipe 4 is introduced together with the first carrier gas into the precolumn 6, and the main component and the component to be analyzed are separated. To do. At this time, from the pre-column 6, the component to be analyzed is first carried out along with the first carrier gas, and after the component to be analyzed is completely discharged, the main component is carried out along with the first carrier gas. The gas discharged from the pre-column 6 is the main component only, and the component to be analyzed entrained in the first carrier gas is guided to the second switching valve 2 and thereafter, and then the second switching valve 2 is switched to the flow path on the broken line side. As a result, the main component is discharged from the second switching valve 2 through the choke column 12 to the outside of the system, and the main component and the analyzed component are roughly separated.
Further, after the analyzed component is introduced from the second switching valve 2 through the third switching valve 3 into the concentrating pipe 7, the third switching valve 3 is switched to the flow path on the broken line side.

Then, after the main component is discharged from the flow path 13 through the choke column 12, the first switching valve 1, the second switching valve 2 and the third switching valve 3 are returned to the flow path on the solid line side for the first time. The separation operation ends.

After repeating the above separation operation to accumulate the analyte in the sample gas in the concentration tube 7, the concentration tube 7 is heated by setting the third switching valve 3 to the flow path on the broken line side, and the concentration tube 7 is heated. The analyte components that have been adsorbed and accumulated on the adsorbent therein are desorbed. Subsequently, the third switching valve 3 is switched to the flow path on the solid line side to introduce the desorbed gas into the main column 8, and the analyzed component is separated into a single component in the main column 9, and then introduced into the quantification device A. The analyte gas is quantified individually.

[0011]

However, when the concentration analysis is carried out by the above method, the analysis sensitivity may not be improved depending on the number of repetitions of the separation operation depending on the composition of the sample gas. . As a result of diligent research into the cause, the main component in the sample gas and the component to be analyzed are separated by the pre-column 6, and when the separation operation of sending the component to be analyzed to the concentration tube 7 is repeated, the sample collected by the pre-column 6 It was determined that the gas had to be completely drained before entering the next separation operation. For example, if the main component in the sample gas collected last time remains in the pre-column 6, the extra main component gas will be sent to the concentrating pipe 7 in the next separation operation, and the separation efficiency will decrease. It turned out that precise analysis becomes difficult. However, in order to completely flow out (purge) the gas collected last time from the pre-column 6, although it depends on the type and concentration of the gas to be analyzed, it is usually 1
It takes 0 to 15 minutes, and during that time, the next separation operation cannot be carried out and becomes a waiting time.

Therefore, assuming that it takes 10 minutes to perform the separation operation once, and if the above operation is repeated 100 times to increase the sensitivity 100 times, it takes 1000 minutes, which results in one analysis. The operation takes an extremely long time.

Further, in the case of using a semiconductor material gas as a main component, a large amount of highly reactive semiconductor material gas can be quantified even if it is unavoidable to introduce a trace amount of the analyte component as an impurity into the quantification device. When introduced into the device, it may be considered that it reacts with the oxygen-containing compound remaining in the device to form an oxide and forms an oxide film in the device, which may adversely affect the quantitative device. For this reason, it is desirable not to introduce a highly reactive gas such as a semiconductor material gas into the quantification device. Therefore, when analyzing impurities of a gas containing a semiconductor material gas as a main component, the precolumn is used. It is preferable to sufficiently purge the inside.

Therefore, in the present invention, in the concentration analysis method and apparatus for separating the component to be analyzed and the main component by the pre-column and concentrating and analyzing the component to be analyzed, the time required for the separation operation can be shortened and the accuracy can be improved. It is an object of the present invention to provide a concentration analysis method and device capable of rapidly performing the analysis described above.

[0015]

In order to achieve the above object, the concentration analysis method of the present invention is a method for concentrating and analyzing an analyte component in a sample gas containing a trace amount of the analyte component in the main component. In the above, a predetermined amount of sample gas entrained in the carrier gas is introduced into a plurality of pre-columns provided in parallel to separate the main component and the component to be analyzed, and the target gas entrained in the carrier gas and discharged from each pre-column. After introducing the analytical component into the concentrating tube to concentrate the analytical component, the concentrated analytical component in the concentrating pipe is desorbed, introduced into the main column while being entrained in the carrier gas, and the analytical component is introduced into the main column. It is characterized in that it is separated into single components and quantified.

Further, the concentration / analysis apparatus of the present invention is an apparatus for concentrating and analyzing a component to be analyzed in a sample gas containing a trace amount of the component to be analyzed in the main component, and a predetermined amount of the sample entrained in the carrier gas. A plurality of pre-columns installed in parallel for separating the main component of the gas and the analyte, a concentration tube for sequentially introducing and concentrating the analyte derived along with the carrier gas from each pre-column, and the concentration tube A main column that separates the analyte component that is carried out with the carrier gas and is separated into a single component, and a quantification device that quantifies the analyte component that is separated into a single component in the main column and that is carried with the carrier gas and discharged. It is characterized by having.

Further, in the apparatus of the present invention, the plurality of precolumns and the concentrating tube are connected via a hexagonal valve, and the carrier gas supplied to the plurality of precolumns is independently adjusted in flow rate for each precolumn. It is characterized in that it is supplied via a possible flow control means.

[0018]

[Operation] According to the above configuration, the separation operation can be performed in each of the plurality of pre-columns installed in parallel, so that the separation operation and the concentration operation of the component to be analyzed and the main component can be performed in a short time. For example, when two pre-columns are installed in parallel, the sample gas is introduced into the first pre-column to perform the separation operation, and the analyte component derived from the first pre-column is introduced into the concentrating tube and the second pre-column is introduced. By similarly introducing the sample gas into the precolumn and performing the separation operation, the separation and concentration operations for two times can be performed once.
At this time, by setting the separation operation in the plurality of pre-columns to be sequentially started at a predetermined timing,
It is possible to prevent the gas flow from changing rapidly. The number of pre-columns to be installed may be appropriately set depending on the concentration rate of the components to be analyzed, the time required for the separation operation in each pre-column, the time required for completely flowing out the main component remaining in the pre-column, etc. . The same applies when the main component flows out from the precolumn first.

[0019]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in more detail based on an embodiment shown in FIG. The concentration analyzer shown in FIG. 1 shows an embodiment in which four precolumns, which are separation means for separating a main component and a trace amount of the component to be analyzed, are installed in parallel, and each precolumn 21, 22, 23, 24 is provided. Is a first equipped with measuring pipes 31, 32, 33, 34 on the upstream side, respectively.
The switching valves 41, 42, 43, 44 are connected to the second switching valves 51, 52, 53, 54 on the downstream side. Further, a third switching valve 61 is connected downstream of the second switching valves 51, 52, 53, 54. The third switching valve 61 is provided with a concentrating pipe 62 and a main column 63. And a quantification device 64 is connected.

The first switching valves 41, 42, 43, 44
Is provided with a sample gas source 45 for introducing the sample gas (S) and a flow meter 46 for measuring the flow rate of the sample gas, and the sample gas measured by the measuring pipes 31, 32, 33, 34 is pre-column 21, First carrier gas supply sources 71, 72, 73, 74 for supplying a carrier gas (C) for carrying to the 22, 23, 24 side are connected via flow rate controllers 71a, 72a, 73a, 74a, respectively. ing.

Further, the second switching valves 51, 52, 53, 5
A second carrier gas supply source 4 supplies carrier gas (C) for carrying the analyzed gas in the downstream pipes of the second switching valves 51, 52, 53, 54 toward the concentration pipe 62. 81, 82, 83, 84 are connected via dummy columns 81a, 82a, 83a, 84a, respectively, and the analyzed gas concentrated in the concentrating pipe 62 is connected to the main column 63 in the third switching valve 61. A third carrier gas supply source 65 for supplying a carrier gas (C) to be conveyed to the quantification device 64 via the flow rate controller 65a.

The pre-columns 21, 22, 23, 24
The main components separated in step 2 are the second switching valves 51, 52, 53, 5
4 through the choke column 55. The carrier gas supply amounts from the respective carrier gas supply sources are set to be substantially the same.

Next, the procedure for analyzing the trace components in the sample gas using the apparatus of the above embodiment will be described. Here, similarly to the above, the case where the main component has a longer outflow time from the precolumn than the component to be analyzed in the separation on the precolumn and there is no overlap between both peaks will be described as an example.

First, all the switching valves are switched to the flow paths on the solid line side shown in the figure to start the introduction of the sample gas and the carrier gas. The sample gas from the sample gas source 45 is the first first
After flowing through the first metering pipe 31 via the switching valve 41, the second first switching valve 4 passes through the first first switching valve 41 again.
2, and similarly flows through the second measuring pipe 32. Less than,
Similarly, the third first switching valve 43, the third measuring pipe 33,
After flowing through the fourth first switching valve 44 and the fourth measuring pipe 34, the gas is discharged through the flow meter 46.

Further, the first carrier gas supply sources 71, 7
The carrier gases supplied from Nos. 2, 73 and 74 pass through the pre-columns 21, 22, 23 and 24 from the first switching valves 41, 42, 43 and 44, respectively, and then merge and pass through the third switching valve 61 to concentrate. It flows through the pipe 62, and again the third switching valve 6
It is discharged after passing through 1. Second carrier gas supply source 8
The carrier gas from 1, 82, 83, 84 is discharged from the second switching valves 51, 52, 53, 54 through the choke column 55, and the third carrier gas supply source 6
The carrier gas from No. 5 flows from the third switching valve 61 through the main column 63 to the metering device 64.

In this state, when the first first switching valve 41 is switched to the flow path on the broken line side in the figure, a predetermined amount of sample gas measured in the measuring pipe 31 portion (including the front and rear pipes) becomes The carrier gas supplied from the first first carrier gas supply source 71 is introduced together with the carrier gas into the first pre-column 21, and the component to be analyzed and the main component are separated. The component to be analyzed that has been carried out by the carrier gas and has been led out from the pre-column 21 is the first second switching valve 51 and the third switching valve 6
It is introduced into the concentration tube 62 via 1 and is collected by the filler in the concentration tube 62.

When the gas to be discharged from the pre-column 21 contains no components to be analyzed and only the main components are contained, the first second switching valve 51 is switched to the flow path on the broken line side to discharge the main components from the choke column 55. To do. At this time, the second switching valve 5
The components to be analyzed in the pipes from 1 to are entrained in the carrier gas supplied from the second carrier gas supply source 81,
It is introduced into the concentrating pipe 62 via the third switching valve 61.

Even during the separation operation in the first pre-column 21, the sample gas is the second or lower first switching valves 42, 4
3 and 44 and the measuring pipes 32, 33, and 34 flow, so when the second first switching valve 42 is switched to the flow path on the broken line side after an appropriate time, the sample measured in the second measuring pipe 32 portion The gas is introduced together with the carrier gas supplied from the second first carrier gas supply source 72 into the second pre-column 22, and the analyte and the main component are separated in the same manner as described above, and the analyte is analyzed. Are collected in the concentration tube 62 and concentrated.

Hereinafter, by switching the third and subsequent first switching valves 43, 44 to the flow paths on the broken line side at an appropriate timing, the separation operation between the components to be analyzed and the main components in the respective pre-columns 23, 24 and the target components for separation are analyzed. The analysis component can be introduced into the concentration tube 62 and concentrated.

Although it is possible to simultaneously switch all the first switching valves and start the separation operation at the same time in each pre-column, since the turbulence of the gas flow caused by the switching of the valves becomes large, the separation operation is sequentially performed at a predetermined timing. Is preferably started.

On the other hand, the second and subsequent pre-columns 22,
During the separation operation at 23 and 24, the first pre-column 21 has a first first carrier gas supply source 71.
The carrier gas from is supplied via the first first switching valve 41, and the main component remaining in the precolumn 21 is purged by the carrier gas. At this time, the first first switching valve 41 may be in either the solid line side flow path or the broken line side flow path, but in the case of repeatedly measuring the sample gas, it is switched to the solid line side flow path. .

When the above-described separation / concentration operation is further repeated, the first first switching valve 41 is connected to the flow path from the solid line side to the broken line side when the outflow of the main component in the first precolumn 21 is completely completed. And the first second switching valve 5
1 is switched from the broken line side to the solid line side flow path. This allows
The sample gas measured by the first measuring pipe 31 is introduced into the first pre-column 21, and the separation operation and the concentration operation similar to the above are performed.

Thus, the four pre-columns 21, 22,
23 and 24 are used to perform a sequential separation operation to concentrate the component to be analyzed in the concentrating tube 62, and then the third switching valve 61 is switched to the flow path on the side of the broken line to change the carrier gas from the third carrier gas supply source 65. Is introduced into the concentrating tube 62, the analyzed components collected in the concentrating tube 62 are desorbed, the analyzed components are separated into single components in the main column 63, and the quantification device 6
Quantitative analysis is performed in 4.

By installing the four pre-columns as described above, the separation and concentration operations for four times can be performed in parallel at substantially the same time, so that the time required for separation and concentration is about 1/4 of that in the conventional case. It becomes possible to Therefore, if the number of pre-columns to be installed is determined according to the concentration rate and the outflow rate of the component to be analyzed and the main component, the separation / concentration operation can be completed in a short time, and the trace component can be analyzed quickly. . However, if the number of pre-columns is unreasonably increased, the piping becomes complicated and the number of valves also increases, increasing the equipment cost.Therefore, install an appropriate number of pre-columns in consideration of the time saving effect and equipment configuration. It is preferable.

Here, the number of pre-columns is n, the time from the start of the separation operation in one pre-column to the end of the purging operation of the main component is Tr, the switching time of the second switching valve, that is, the pre-column. Let Ta be the time until the component to be analyzed completely flows out, the switching timing of the first switching valve, that is, after the sample gas is metered by the i-th metering pipe and introduced into the pre-column, the next (i + 1) The effect of shortening the time when the sample gas is measured by the second measuring tube and introduced into the precolumn will be described.

First, paying attention to the first pre-column,
After the separation operation is started by switching the first switching valve to separate the analyte and the main component, it takes Tr time until the purging operation of the main component is completed. Therefore, the start time of the second separation operation is Tr. After time, the start time of the third separation operation is (T
If the separation operation is repeated m times after r * 2) hours have elapsed, the start time of the m-th separation operation is (Tr * (m-
1)) It will be later. The time required for the analyte to flow out from the pre-column in the m-th separation operation is (Tr ×
(M-1) + Ta).

On the other hand, in the second precolumn, the separation operation is started after ΔT time from the first precolumn.
The start of the first separation operation of the second pre-column is after ΔT time from the start of the analysis, and the start time of the second separation operation is after (Tr + ΔT) time. Therefore, the start time of the m-th separation operation is (Tr × (m−1) + ΔT) time later. The start time of the m-th separation operation in the third pre-column is (Tr × (m−1) + ΔT ×
2) After the time, the start time of the m-th separation operation in the n-th pre-column is (Tr × (m−1) + ΔT ×
(N-1)) hours later. Then, in the n-th pre-column, the time when the component to be analyzed has finished flowing out from the pre-column in the m-th separation operation, that is, the end time of the separation operation is (Tr × (m−1) + ΔT × (n−1) + Ta) It will be after hours.

For example, the separation operation time Tr is 10 minutes,
The time Ta until the analyte completely flows out from the pre-column is 2 minutes, and the switching timing ΔT of the first switching valve is 12
When the separation / concentration operation is performed 200 times to increase the sensitivity 200 times, the number of repetitions m in each pre-column is m in a device having 50 pre-columns (n = 50). Since it becomes 4, (Tr × (m−1) +
ΔT × (n−1) + Ta) = (10 × (4-1) +0.
2 × (50-1) +2) = 41.8, which means that 200 separation / concentration operations can be completed in 41.8 minutes.

Further, a device having ten precolumns (n = 1)
In 0), the number of repetitions m in each pre-column is 20, so (Tr × (m−1) + ΔT × (n−1) + T
a) = (10 × (20-1) + 0.2 × (10-1) +
2) = 193.8, which means that 200 separation / concentration operations can be completed in 193.8 minutes.

On the other hand, in the case of an apparatus having one conventional precolumn, the time is simply the separation operation time Tr multiplied by the number of separation / concentration operations. In this case, 10 × 200 = 2.
Therefore, the separation / concentration operation requires 2000 minutes.

As described above, by providing n pre-columns in parallel and performing the concentration operation in each pre-column, the time required for the separation / concentration operation can be reduced to about 1 / n as compared with the conventional case. This allows sufficient time for purging the pre-column, so when a gas that adversely affects the quantification device is the main component, for example, a small amount of impurities contained in the gas containing the semiconductor material gas as the main component is quantified. Even in such a case, it is possible to reliably prevent the main component that adversely affects the quantification device from being introduced into the quantification device.

In the apparatus of this embodiment, the second switching valve 5
The gas derived from 1, 52, 53, 54 merges and the third
Since the gas flows through the switching valve 61, the gas flows through the third switching valve 61 and the concentrating pipe 62 at a flow rate four times that of the other flow paths. Therefore, if the component to be analyzed collected in the concentrating tube 62 is desorbed in this state and the gas is caused to flow through the main column 63 to the quantification device 64, the amount of gas becomes too large. That is, since the flow rate of the gas is set to 20 to 30 ml per minute in the usual analyzer of this type, if the flow rate of the gas in each pre-column 21, 22, 23, 24 is set to 20 to 30 ml per minute, The amount of gas flowing from the column 63 to the metering device 64 is 80 to 120 ml / min, which greatly exceeds the set flow rate of the metering device 64.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, the third
A six-way valve is used as the switching valve 61, and the six-way valve has a confluent channel 61 a from the second switching valve and a channel 62 at both ends of the concentrating pipe 62.
a, 62b, the flow passage 63a to the main column 63, the flow passage 61b from the third carrier gas supply source 65, and the exhaust flow passage 61c are switchably connected to each other, and at the time of the concentration operation, from the second switching valve. The carrier gas accommodating the component to be analyzed from the confluent channel 61a is passed through the channel 62a and the concentrating tube 6.
2, flow path 62b, exhaust flow path 61c in this order, and during analysis operation, by switching the hexagonal valve, a predetermined flow rate supplied from the third carrier gas supply source 65 via the flow path 61b, for example, 30 ml of carrier gas per minute. The flow path 62
a, the concentrating pipe 62, the flow channel 62b, the flow channel 63a in this order,
The desorption gas from the concentrating pipe 62 is sent from the main column 63 to the metering device 64 with a carrier gas at a predetermined flow rate. This makes it possible to obtain a carrier gas at a predetermined flow rate in the quantification device 64 by switching only one valve, and improve operability and analysis accuracy.

Further, in the apparatus of the above-mentioned embodiment, the first carrier gas supply sources 71, 72, 73, 74 are each provided with a flow rate controller 71a, which can independently adjust the flow rate.
Since 72a, 73a, and 74a are provided, the flow rate of the gas flowing through each precolumn 21, 22, 23, and 24 can be made substantially the same in each precolumn. As a result, the switching timing in the separation operation can be changed between the pre-columns 21 and 2.
2, 23, and 24 can be made substantially the same, and the switching timing can be easily set. The flow rates of the gases flowing through the pre-columns 21, 22, 23, and 24 can be made substantially the same by making the resistances of the respective passages equal, but the density of the packing material packed in each column is It must be the same, which is extremely difficult. Although various types of flow rate controllers can be used, a needle valve that can be precisely adjusted is preferable.

[0045]

[Experimental Example] A trace amount of phosphine contained in a hydrogen-based sample gas containing about 10% arsine as a main component was analyzed. A mass spectrometer was used as the quantification device 64, the flow rate of the sample gas was 100 ml / min, and helium was used as the carrier gas at a flow rate of 25 ml / min. Further, each column was filled with gas chromatographic filler porous polymer beads (Porapack N manufactured by Waters). The passage rate of phosphine in this column is about 70.
Seconds, and the passing speed of arsine is about 10 minutes. Furthermore, the concentrating tube 62 is filled with the above-mentioned porous polymer beads, and the concentrating tube 62 is filled with liquid nitrogen at -1 during the concentration operation.
Cool down to 96 ℃, and use a heater for analysis at about 100 ℃
The components to be analyzed were desorbed by heating to.

In the apparatus of the embodiment having four pre-columns shown in FIG. 1 and the apparatus of the prior art shown in FIG.
Min, the phosphine was analyzed after the separation / concentration operation was performed 12 times with the switching time of the first switching valve being 6 seconds. Table 1 shows the results of performing this analysis operation three times.

[0047]

[Table 1]

From the results shown in Table 1, it can be seen that, although the phosphine analysis results are substantially the same for both, the total measurement time of the device of this embodiment is shortened to about 1/3 of that of the conventional device. The time required only for the separation / concentration operation was about ¼ when the time required for cooling and heating the concentration tube 62, the analysis time, and the like were subtracted. Further, when the separation operation time was shortened in the conventional apparatus, arsine remaining in the precolumn was adsorbed and concentrated along with the phosphine into the concentration tube during the next concentration operation, and a large peak of arsine was generated on the chart during quantification. , The baseline was disturbed by the large peak of this arsine, and it was not possible to perform a highly sensitive analysis.

[0049]

As described above, in the concentration analysis method and apparatus of the present invention, a plurality of pre-columns, which are separation means for separating the main component and a trace amount of the component to be analyzed, are provided in parallel, and each pre-column is subjected to the analysis. Since the analysis components are separated, the time required for the separation / concentration operation can be significantly reduced, and the analysis efficiency of the trace components can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system diagram showing an embodiment of the concentration analyzer of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a system diagram showing an example of a conventional concentration analyzer.

[Explanation of symbols]

21, 22, 23, 24 ... Pre-column 31, 32, 33, 34 ... Metering pipe 41, 42, 43, 44 ... First switching valve, 45 ... Sample gas source, 46 ... Flowmeter 51, 52, 53, 54 ... Second switching valve 61 ... Third switching valve, 62 ... Concentrating tube, 63 ... Main column, 64 ... Quantitative device, 65 ... Third carrier gas supply source 71, 72, 73, 74 ... First carrier gas supply source 71a, 72a, 73a, 74a ... Flow rate regulator 81, 82, 83, 84 ... Second carrier gas supply source

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) Reference JP-A-4-278458 (JP, A) JP-A-59-5954 (JP, A) JP-A-4-221759 (JP, A) JP-A-59- 157563 (JP, A) JP-A 5-232095 (JP, A) JP-A 2-291151 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G01N 30/08 G01N 30 / 46 G01N 30/88

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A method for concentrating and analyzing an analyte in a sample gas containing a trace amount of the analyte in its main component,
A predetermined amount of sample gas entrained in the carrier gas is introduced into a precolumn in which a plurality of sample gases are provided in parallel to separate the main component and the analyte component, and the analyte component derived from each precolumn by being entrained in the carrier gas. Is introduced into the concentrating tube to concentrate the analyte, and then the concentrated analyte is desorbed in the concentrating tube, introduced into the main column along with the carrier gas, and the analyte is separated into a single component in the main column. A method for concentrating analysis, characterized in that it is separated into two parts and quantified. 2. An apparatus for concentrating and analyzing an analyte in a sample gas containing a trace amount of the analyte in its main component,
A plurality of pre-columns installed in parallel for separating the main component of the predetermined amount of sample gas entrained in the carrier gas and the analyte, and the analytes derived from the pre-column and entrained in the carrier gas are sequentially introduced. And a main column for separating the analyte to be analyzed by being carried with the carrier gas from the concentrating tube into a single component, and with the main column being separated into a single component and being carried with the carrier gas. A concentration analysis device, comprising: a quantification device for quantifying a component to be analyzed. 3. The concentrating tube comprises a confluent channel from the plurality of pre-columns, a channel to the main column, and a carrier gas for transporting the analyte to be concentrated in the concentrating tube in the main column direction. The concentration analyzer according to claim 2, wherein the concentration analysis device is connected to a hexagonal valve capable of switching between the flow passage and the exhaust flow passage. 4. The concentration analyzer according to claim 2, wherein the carrier gas supplied to the plurality of pre-columns is supplied via a flow rate adjusting means capable of independently adjusting the flow rate for each pre-column. .