Agilent Technologies 8860 Site Preparation Guide

7 Gas Selection and Plumbing
Hydrogen Carrier Gas
42 Site Preparation Guide
MS and MSD systems purchased with a Self-Cleaning Ion Source also require a source of
hydrogen gas in addition to helium carrier gas. This source can be shared but must meet
carrier gas purity requirements.
Hydrogen Carrier Gas
Refer to the Agilent 8860 GC Safety Manual for important safety information about hydrogen
gas.
If hydrogen is being used as a carrier gas, or for the JetClean ion source system, special
considerations apply due to hydrogen’s flammability and chromatographic properties.
• Agilent highly recommends the G3388B Leak Detector to safely check for leaks.
• Hydrogen carrier gas requires special considerations for supply tubing. See “Gas
Plumbing” on page 49.
• In addition to the supply pressure requirements listed in “Gas Supplies” on page 43, Agilent
also recommends users of hydrogen gas consider gas source and purification needs. See
the additional recommendations in “Requirements for hydrogen as a carrier gas or for
use in JetClean systems” on page 45.
• When using hydrogen carrier gas with a ECD, TCD, or any other detector that vents
uncombusted gases, plan to vent the detector output to a fume hood or similar location.
Uncombusted hydrogen can present a safety hazard. See “Exhaust Venting” on page 28.
• When using hydrogen carrier gas, also plan to safely vent inlet split vent flows and purge
vent flows. See “Exhaust Venting” on page 28.
Gas and Reagent Purity
Agilent recommends that carrier and detector gases be 99.9995% pure. See Table 15. Air
needs to be zero grade or better. Agilent also recommends using high quality traps to remove
hydrocarbons, water, and oxygen.
NPD Carrier: helium
Makeup: nitrogen
Fuel: hydrogen
Aux gas: Air
ECD Carrier: helium
Anode purge and makeup: nitrogen
FPD Carrier: helium
Makeup: nitrogen
Fuel: hydrogen
Aux gas: Air
CI MS (external) Reagent gas: methane
CI MS (internal) Reagent: methanol
Table 14 Gases and reagents required for checkout (continued)
Detector Gases required

Agilent Technologies 8860 Specifications

General

Brand	Agilent Technologies
Model	8860
Category	Laboratory Equipment
Language	English