Thermal Desorption Tube Selection Guide

In addition to the general guidelines presented in the tables below view the technical report titled “A Tool for Selecting an Adsorbent for Thermal Desorption Applications” (PDF), which highlights the relative differences between the most commonly used adsorbents with the help of color-coded performance charts.

Application Overview for Carbotrap® Thermal Desorption Tubes with Multiple Beds
Thermal Desorption Tube	Adsorbents	Application
Carbotrap® T420	Proprietary	Terpenes in air
Carbotrap® 100	Carbotrap B	C-5-C12 compounds in air
Carbotrap 150	Glass beads, Carbotrap C	Large molecules in air or aqueous samples
Carbotrap 200	Glass beads, Carbotrap B, Carbosieve® S-III	C2-C14 compounds in air
Carbotrap 201	Carbopack™ B, Carboxen®-1000	Focusing semivolatile to very volatile compounds
Carbotrap 202	Carbopack B, Carbopack C	C5-C20 compounds in air
Carbotrap 217	Carbotrap B, Carboxen-1000	TO-17 compounds & other volatile compounds in air
Carbotrap 300	Carbotrap C, Carbotrap B, Carbosieve S-III	C2 and larger compounds in air
Carbotrap 301	Carbopack C, Carbopack B, Carboxen-1000	Focusing volatile and semivolatile compounds
Carbotrap 302	Carbopack C, Carbopack B, Carboxen-1001	Volatile compounds in aqueous solutions
Carbotrap 317	Carbotrap C, Carbotrap B, Carboxen-1000	TO-17 compounds and other volatile and semivolatile compounds in air
Carbotrap 349	Carbopack Y, Carbopack B, Carboxen-1003	NIOSH 2549: Volatile organic compounds in air
Carbotrap 370	Carbopack F, Carbopack C, Carbopack B	C5-C30 compounds thermally extracted from solid samples; focusing semivolatile compounds
Carbotrap 400	Carbotrap F, Carbotrap C, Carbotrap B, Carboxen 569	C2 and larger compounds in aqueous samples

Thermal Desorption Tube Selection by Agency Method
Method	Thermal Desorption Tube
ASTM D6196	Carbotrap 100, Carbopack B, Chromosorb® 106
EPA TO-1	Tenax® TA
EPA TO-2	Carbosieve SIII
EPA TO-14	Air Toxics
EPA TO-17	Carbotrap 217, Carbotrap 300, Carbotrap 317
EPA 1P-1B	Tenax TA, Carbotrap 349
EPA 0030, EPA 0031, EPA SW-846	VOST Stack Sampling Tubes: Tenax TA (35/60 mesh), Tenax TA:Petroleum Charcoal (2:1)
MDHS 72	Chromosorb 106
NIOSH 2549	Carbotrap 349
Trademarks Chromosorb is a registered trademark of Imerys Minerals California, Inc. Tenax registered trademark of Buchem B.V.