The Costech ECS 4010 is used to determine the total carbon and nitrogen in solid samples such as soil, plant material, and dried liquid residue. 

Costech

 

 

 

At the start of an experiment, samples are dropped into a combustion column from the 50-well autosampler. The helium carrier gas is replaced with a small volume of oxygen, and samples combust to form N2, CO2, and H2O.

 

Gasses are directed through a copper column, and any unreacted oxygen is removed. The remaining reaction products are separated with a gas chromatographic column and are detected with a thermal conductivity detector.

 

 

Costech software compares the peak areas to a standard reference to report the percent carbon and nitrogen in a given sample. 

 

 

 

 

 

The EAL houses an analytical balance and microbalance for Costech sample prep.

Find sample rolling techniques here.  Should you acidify your sample?