The present disclosure provides for collection and separation systems, collection and separation methods, isotope analsis systems, methods of processing samples to analyze .sup.15N, .sup.13C, and S.sup.34, and the like. In an aspect, the present disclosure provides for a system that includes a collection system in gaseous communication with a first device, wherein the collection system is configured to isolate two or more gases of a gaseous sample and configured to introduce each to a second device independently of one another.

This invention relates to a method of estimating the organic carbon content of soil or changes in organic carbon content of the soil over time using Loss On Ignition (LOI) in which a first sample of the soil is taken from a selected location and heated by forcing heated oxygen-containing gas through the soil sample, monitoring the temperature of the sample by using at least one temperature sensing means within the soil sample and varying the supply of the gas to the sample in accordance with the temperature of the sample as sensed by the sensing means to remove organic materials including organic carbon from the soil sample by burning off or oxidising the organic materials.

The present invention relates to a method for determining the origin of glutamic acid in a sample and, in a broader sense, relates to a method for determining the origin of an amino acid. The present invention makes it possible to measure the stable isotope ratio, with a considerably higher accuracy than that of conventional methods, by measuring the δ13C of glutamic acid (amino acid) by elemental analysis-stable isotope ratio mass spectrometry (EA-IRMS) and measuring the δ15N by gas chromatography-stable isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC-IRMS). In addition, the present invention makes it possible to determine the origin of glutamic acid (amino acid) by comparing the stable isotope ratio of the glutamic acid (amino acid) whose origin is unclear with the stable isotope ratio of glutamic acid (amino acid) whose origin is clear.

The present invention relates to a method for determining the origin of glutamic acid in a sample and, in a broader sense, relates to a method for determining the origin of an amino acid. The present invention makes it possible to measure the stable isotope ratio, with a considerably higher accuracy than that of conventional methods, by measuring the δ13C of glutamic acid (amino acid) by elemental analysis-stable isotope ratio mass spectrometry (EA-IRMS) and measuring the δ15N by gas chromatography-stable isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC-IRMS). In addition, the present invention makes it possible to determine the origin of glutamic acid (amino acid) by comparing the stable isotope ratio of the glutamic acid (amino acid) whose origin is unclear with the stable isotope ratio of glutamic acid (amino acid) whose origin is clear.

A gas measuring apparatus for a secondary battery comprises: a chamber accommodating a secondary battery therein; a heater unit applying heat to the chamber to ignite the secondary battery accommodated in the chamber; a collection tube connected to the inside of the chamber to collect a gas generated in the secondary battery; a vacuum unit connected to the collection tube to vacuumize the inside of the chamber so as to introduce the gas into the collection tube; and a gas measuring unit measuring an amount of gas introduced into the collection tube.

A device for simultaneously measuring mercury, cadmium, zinc, and lead is provided, including: a gas generating device; a quartz analysis tube connected to the gas generating device, and the quartz analysis tube includes a sample heating zone, a high-temperature packing zone and a quartz collimating tube; an atomic absorption detection device AA1 arranged behind the quartz analysis tube, where the atomic absorption detection device includes an atomic absorption detector, a flame, and a light source; a quartz catalytic tube arranged behind the atomic absorption detection device, where the quartz catalytic tube includes a flame buffer zone and an adsorption packing zone; and an atomic absorption mercury measuring device arranged behind the quartz catalytic tube, where the atomic absorption mercury measuring device includes a mercury enrichment tube, an atomic absorption detector AA2 and an air pump.

An oxy-pyrohydrolysis article including a pyrotube and a sample insert are described. The sample insert includes a sample insert tube and a corrosion-resistant protective tube. Methods of conducting oxy-pyrohydrolysis using such articles, including their use for measuring total halogen (e.g., total fluorine) content are also described.

An oxy-pyrohydrolysis article including a pyrotube and a sample insert are described. The sample insert includes a sample insert tube and a corrosion-resistant protective tube. Methods of conducting oxy-pyrohydrolysis using such articles, including their use for measuring total halogen (e.g., total fluorine) content are also described.

A method of atmospheric inorganic and organic nitrogen quantification is disclosed. The ambient air is sampled by drawing it through an inlet followed by a denuder to reduce positive artifacts. After artifact removal, the air sample is collected onto a filter. The filter is subjected to thermal evolution under stepwise temperature program to generate a gaseous product mixture. In the presence of oxygen-containing carrier gas, the gaseous product mixture is oxidized to form oxidized gaseous products of CO.sub.2 and nitrogen oxides. Then, the nitrogen oxides products are processed to form an NO product and reacted with ozone to form an excited NO.sub.2* molecule. By quantifying the intensity of fluorescence, the concentration of NO.sub.2* molecule is measured, which determines the nitrogen content in the aerosol sample. The differentiation of inorganic and organic nitrogen is achieved through processing the thermally evolved carbon and nitrogen signals using multivariate curve resolution data treatment.

A purging mechanism includes an injection channel through which a purge gas is injected into a heating furnace, a discharge channel that connects the heating furnace to outside air to discharge the purge gas having been injected into the heating furnace to the outside air, and a purge gas flow rate adjusting mechanism by which a flow rate of the purge gas is adjusted by changing a flow resistance of the discharge channel between a plurality of levels, or continuously.