Hi Matt,

I did a lot of pondering this kind of link up a while ago, due to the operations of a Leco with a gas ballast you would need to either fundamentally replumb the Leco (not fun) or tap the waste of the gas ballast off to then present an aliquot (via a sample loop) to an IRMS system. The aliquot of N2 that the Leco uses for determination is too low in concentration for robust IRMS determination.
Before presenting the subsample to an IRMS you would need to ensure the sample is fully converted to N2 and CO2, chromatographically separated and in a flow of helium. To do this you would pass it using helium as a carrier through a combustion furnace, then a reduction stage, a water trap for removal of any water produced and onto a GC column. At this point I realised I would essentially need a more standard dumas combustion elemental analyser downstream of the Leco and all I would have saved would be the cost of an autosampler. Even then there would be problems with the smaller samples sizes you may need to analyse due to the volume of the ballast chamber.

Others may have gone this route in a more elegant manner with success but I thought it was worth getting the ball rolling.

Cheers,

Sam

________________________________________
From: Stable Isotope Geochemistry <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Matthew C Rogers <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: 05 January 2016 22:13
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [ISOGEOCHEM] Use LECO FP528 as an EA with Thermo IRMS?

Happy New Year Isogeochem!

I have access to a LECO FP528 (similar to a Truspec N, I believe). Has anyone used this as an EA for solids analysis connected to a Thermo Delta V IRMS? If so, I am curious about any lessons learned or pitfalls or other helpful hints. Thanks in advance!

Cheers,

Matt

-------------------------------------
Matthew Rogers
ENRI Stable Isotope Laboratory
The University of Alaska Anchorage
907.786.7769
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