Automatic Mass Spectrometric Analysis of the Deuterium to Hydrogen Ratio in Natural Water

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Abstract
A new sampling concept to convert liquid water to vapor without changes in the deuterium to hydrogen ratio has made possible the construction of an automated mass spectrometer system for determining the deuterium to hydrogen ratio of water samples. The automatic cycle uses an increasing pressure approach to mass spectrometer dosing with excellent suppression of memory effects. Mass‐2 ion abundance is used as the pressuresensor to actuate the single control valve in the automatic cycle, coupled with digital readout of the mass‐3 ion abundance. A precision of ±0.1 ppm at the natural concentration level is achieved with a cycle time of 2 min. The automatic cycle has also been applied to on‐stream gaseous hydrogen analysis with a resulting precision of ±0.1 ppm and a 50 sec cycle time.

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