Simple method for adiabatically sampling reactive gaseous systems for mass spectrometric analysis

An understanding of the nature of the chemical processes occuring in dynamic, reactive, gaseous systems, such as hydrocarbon flames and chemical lasers, requires knowledge of the chemical species that actually exist in these systems. This paper reports the design and use of a flow-type reactor tube which is passed through the ion source of a mass spectrometer permitting the components of a reacting gas phase system to be extracted adiabatically through a 10 μ orifice into the ion source for analysis. The procedure for drilling this orifice with a focused CO2 laser is presented, together with data which indicate that the reactive species extracted from a flame zone are representative of those existing within the reactive system.