Chromatography
Bringing Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Testing Capabilities to Mongolia
Dr Imran Janmohamed1 , Dr Giles Edwards2 , Dr Robert Clegg2 , Diane Turner1,2,3 and Dr Geraint Morgan3
1 Anthias Consulting Ltd, 1 Hamden Way, Papworth Everard, Cambridge, CB23 3UG, UK 2 Recycling Organisation for Research Opportunities (RORO), 652 Halifax Road, Todmorden, OL14 6DW, UK 3 School of Physical Sciences, The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, UK
A consortium of companies and universities, including: Anthias Consulting Ltd, Baseline Technology Ltd, CTC Analytics AG, Davidson Analytical Services Ltd, Parker Gas Separation and Filtration Division EMEA (Parker GSFE), Trajan Scientifi c and Medical (Trajan), Waters Corporation, The University of Manchester and The Open University have collaborated with the charity, Recycling Organisation for Research Opportunities (RORO), to provide a bespoke analytical solution to the National University of Mongolia. The instrument will be used to analyse environmental samples for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and other priority pollutant organic compounds.
Universities in developing countries hold the responsibility, not only as a place of education but also to perform critical research. However, they frequently have equipment shortages that hinder effective research and training, this is often compounded by limited experience in the operation and maintenance of advanced equipment. The National University of Mongolia is the fi rst and oldest university in Mongolia established in 1942 with approximately one third of the Mongolian population graduating from it.
Dr Robert Clegg, an analytical chemist and a volunteer with RORO, made contact with the charity which connects surplus analytical instrumentation with fi nancially challenged academic institutions, to see if they could help with the supply of analytical equipment to help with air pollution analysis, in particular polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).
Dr Giles Edwards from RORO set the logistical train in motion with an assessment of the need and determined that the simplest, cheapest technique with the required performance for both the quantitative and qualitative analysis was a gas chromatograph fi tted with a fl ame ionisation detector (GC-FID).
The ambitious project was to assist with the development of analytical facilities of the National University of Mongolia (NUM). Mongolia has a host of environmental problems caused by a spectrum of human and climate factors. A large proportion of Mongolians burn coal for heating purposes during their extreme Siberian winter. Temperatures often drop below -30°C and for low socio-economic families living in traditional Gurs (Yerts) they have no other option in order to stay alive during the long winter.
Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, is situated in a valley and the consequence of burning coal creates extreme levels of pollution during the winter months. Each winter pollution in Ulaanbaatar rises to extreme levels and has been modelled to be attributing to approximately 1 in 10 deaths in the Mongolian capital city [1]. There are numerous facets of Mongolia’s air pollution problems that require investigation, to understand the causes and its environmental and human impacts.
The journey then began with the donation of an Agilent 6890N Gas Chromatograph, with a high throughput CTC Analytics GC PAL Autosampler previously donated to RORO by the Waters Corporation. RORO identifi ed the need for additional parts including the FID, a Programmable Temperature Vaporiser (PTV) inlet (to allow hot and cold injection) and the provision of suitable user-friendly software. RORO then exchanged other donated instrumentation with Baseline Technologies Ltd, who installed the detector and injector and provided the software. The University of Manchester supplied a computer workstation for instrument control and data acquisition.
Assembly, integration, maintenance and rigorous performance testing of the GC-FID and CTC GC-PAL system were performed by Dr Imran Janmohamed and Diane Turner of Anthias Consulting Ltd, in the development laboratory of Dr Geraint Morgan (School of Physical Sciences) at The Open University in Milton Keynes. Andrew Davidson from Davidson Analytical Services Ltd reviewed and tested the instrument control and data analysis software.
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