Patent ID: 8347688

Claim:
A system for concentrating and analyzing a gaseous sample, the system comprising: a separatory column; a pressurizer for compressing a gaseous sample from a first volume to a second volume, the second volume being smaller than the first volume, the pressurizer being fluidly connected to and upstream of the separatory column; a first sample passageway fluidly connected to and downstream of the separatory column; a second sample passageway fluidly connected to and downstream of the separatory column and fluidly connected to the first sample passageway, the second sample passageway including a flow restrictor that inhibits gas from flowing through the second sample passageway; a pressure-increasing valve arrangement fluidly connected to and downstream of the separatory column, which valve arrangement automatically (a) blocks flow through the first sample passageway and forces flow through the second sample passageway while the apparatus operates to compress the sample, thereby reducing the flow rate through the system and increasing system pressure to pneumatically focus the gaseous sample, and (b) permits flow through the first sample passageway once the sample has been compressed to the second volume and a portion of the sample has flowed through the flow restrictor, thereby allowing flow to resume through the first sample passageway and separation of analytes previously adsorbed at the head of the separatory column; and one or more detectors located to receive analytes from at least the first sample passageway and to detect analytes delivered to the detector from the first sample passageway.