Mass Spectrometric (Mass Spec) Analyzers

For about 20 years mass spectrometers were built mainly by universities and used exclusively for research — primarily the precise measurement of atomic masses and isotope abundance. A mass spectrometer can be thought of as an electronic chemist. The major components of a mass spectrometer are inlet system, ion source, analyzer, detector, vacuum system, and electronics/controller/data system. The major advantage of the process mass spectrometer over other multicomponent analyzers is speed of analysis. Common applications can be categorized as process monitoring or environmental monitoring. The economic impact of using a process mass spectrometer depends, of course, on the application and process. The most common options available for process mass spectrometers deal with sampling and data output. The sample-conditioning requirements for the process mass spectrometer are very similar to those for other commonly used process analyzers, such as the process gas chromatograph.