Rapid Determination of Hydrogen in Metals by the Argon Gas Carrier Fusion-Gas Chromatographic Method

A rapid determination of hydrogen in metals was examined by applying the carrier gas fusion-gas chromatographic technique. The sample was melted in the stream of argon at a flow rate of 150 ml/min, by using a graphite crucible and a reaction tube of small size. The extracted hydrogen was passed through a molecular-sieve 5A column to be separated from other gases. The measurement was carried out with a katharometer and an integrator. The accuracy of the proposed method was equal to that obtained with the hot extraction method (using an argon carrier-Pd osmosis tube), but the analytical time could be reduced to about 1/4 (5 to 7 min) of those in other methods. The present method was applied to the determination of hydrogen in various metal samples such as stainless steel, rare earth metals, V-H, Zr-H, Nb-H, Ta-H, Al and Cu, with satisfactory results