Agilent Technologies 490 Micro GC User manual

Agilent Technologies
Agilent 490
Micro GC Natural Gas
Analyzer
User Manual

Notices
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Manual Part Number
G3582-90002
Edition
First edition, May 2012
Printed in USA
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Wilmington, DE 19808-1610 USA
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Natural Gas Analyzer 3
Contents
1 Agilent 490 Micro GC - Natural Gas Analyzers
Introduction 5
Types of Agilent 490 Micro GC - Natural Gas Analyzers 5
Agilent 490 Micro GC - Natural Gas Analyzer A and the Extended
Version 6
Natural Gas Analyzer A 6
Natural Gas Analyzer A Extended 6
Agilent 490 Micro GC - Natural Gas Analyzer B and the Extended
Version 7
Natural Gas Analyzer B 7
Natural Gas Analyzer B Extended 7
2 Checkout Information
Introduction 8
Natural Gas Analyzer A and the A Extended Version 10
HayeSep A straight 10
6 meter CP-Sil 5 CB 11
HayeSep A backflush 13
4 meter CP-Sil 5 CB 14
8 meter CP-Sil 5 CB 16
Natural Gas Analyzer B and B Extended Version 18
PoraPLOT U 18
6 meter CP Sil 5 CB 20
CP-Molsieve 5A 22
3 Tuning the Backflush Time
Tuning the Backflush Time on CP-Molsieve 5A, PoraPLOT U, or CP-Sil 5
CB 24
Tuning procedure for the backflush time 24
Tuning the Backflush Time on a HayeSep A 26
Tuning procedure for HayeSep A channel 26

Natural Gas Analyzer 4
A Appendix A: Certificate of the NGA Gas Calibration Standard
B Appendix B: Certificate of the Universal Gas Calibration Standard
C Appendix C: Typical Method Settings for Natural Gas Analyzers
D Appendix D: Carrier Gas Type Configuration
Procedure to Change the Carrier Gas Type 32
E Appendix E: Method for CP-Molsieve 5A Channel with Carrier Gas Argon

5
Agilent 490 Micro GC Natural Gas Analyzer
User Manual
Agilent Technologies
1
Agilent 490 Micro GC - Natural Gas
Analyzers
Introduction
Natural gas is a fossil fuel. Millions of years ago, the remains of
plants, animals, and micro-organisms were buried underneath
layers of soil and sediment. Due to the weight of the soil and
sediment, the pressure and temperature increased. This
resulted in the slow transformation of the organisms into
natural gas and oil.
The composition of natural gas varies widely. Natural gas is a
combustible mixture of hydrocarbon gases that mainly consists
of methane, smaller amounts of light hydrocarbons such as
ethane, propane, n-butane, n-pentane, hexanes plus, and other
gases such as nitrogen, carbon dioxide, oxygen, hydrogen, and
hydrogen sulfide. Natural gas can also contain traces of argon,
helium, neon, and xenon. Natural gas in its pure form is
colorless and odorless.
Natural Gas Analyzers have been designed to analyze the
different compositions of natural gas.
Types of Agilent 490 Micro GC - Natural Gas Analyzers
The following four types of Natural Gas Analyzers can be used
to analyze natural gas:
•The Agilent 490 Micro GC - Natural Gas Analyzer A
•The Agilent 490 Micro GC - Natural Gas Analyzer A Extended
•The Agilent 490 Micro GC - Natural Gas Analyzer B
•The Agilent 490 Micro GC - Natural Gas Analyzer B Extended

Agilent 490 Micro GC - Natural Gas Analyzers 1
Natural Gas Analyzers 6
Agilent 490 Micro GC - Natural Gas Analyzer A and the Extended Version
Natural Gas Analyzer A
The Agilent 490 Micro GC - Natural Gas Analyzer A is used to
analyze natural gas samples containing methane, carbon
dioxide, and hydrocarbons up to n-nonane.
The Agilent 490 Micro GC - Natural Gas Analyzer A is a dual
cabinet micro GC equipped with two channels:
•HayeSep A channel (straight)
•6 meter CP-Sil 5 CB channel
Natural Gas Analyzer A Extended
The Agilent 490 Micro GC - Natural Gas Analyzer A Extended is
used to analyze methane, carbon dioxide, and hydrocarbons up
to n-dodecane.
The Agilent 490 Micro GC - Natural Gas A Extended is a quad
cabinet micro GC equipped with three channels:
•HayeSep A channel with a backflush option
•4 meter CP-Sil 5 CB channel with a backflush option
•8 meter CP-Sil 5 CB channel

Agilent 490 Micro GC - Natural Gas Analyzers 1
Natural Gas Analyzers 7
Agilent 490 Micro GC - Natural Gas Analyzer B and the Extended Version
Natural Gas Analyzer B
The Agilent 490 Micro GC - Natural Gas Analyzer B is used to
analyze methane, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, and light
hydrocarbons up to n-nonane in natural gas.
The Agilent 490 Micro GC - Natural Gas Analyzer B is a dual
cabinet micro GC equipped with two channels:
•PoraPLOT U channel with a backflush option
•6 meter CP-Sil 5 CB channel
Natural Gas Analyzer B Extended
The Agilent 490 Micro GC - Natural Gas Analyzer B Extended is
used to analyze hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, methane, carbon
dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide, and hydrocarbons
up to n-nonane.
The Agilent 490 Micro GC - Natural Gas Analyzer B Extended is
a quad cabinet micro GC equipped with three channels:
•CP-Molsieve 5A channel with a backflush option
•PoraPLOT U channel with a backflush option
•6 meter CP-Sil 5 CB channel
The Natural Gas Analyzer B Extended version is equipped with
a dual carrier gas option for the CP-Molsieve 5A channel. It is
made flexible for analysis of hydrogen and helium on the
CP-Molsieve 5A channel if required. For the analysis of helium
on the CP-Molsieve 5A channel, the carrier gas must be argon.
All analyzers are factory tuned on carrier gas helium.
Before starting up the Agilent 490 Micro GC - Natural Gas
Analyzer, ensure that correct carrier gases are connected for all
channels. For all types of analyzers, the required carrier gas is
helium. However, to analyze helium on the CP-Molsieve 5A, the
carrier gas must be argon. The required pressure for carrier gas
is 550 kPa (80 psi). For more information on the Agilent 490
Micro GC, see the Agilent 490 Micro GC User Manual.

8
Agilent 490 Micro GC Natural Gas Analyzer
User Manual
Agilent Technologies
2
Checkout Information
Introduction
The Agilent 490 Micro GC - Natural Gas Analyzers are factory
tuned on carrier gas helium including appropriate settings for
back flush times for the following channels:
•HayeSep A
•4 meter CP-Sil 5 CB
•CP-Molsieve 5A
•PoraPLOT U
The final checkout of the Agilent 490 Micro GC - Natural Gas
Analyzer is performed with a NGA Gas Calibration standard
and a Universal Gas Calibration standard.
•The NGA Gas Calibration standard contains nitrogen,
methane, ethane, carbon dioxide, propane, iso-butane,
n-butane, iso-pentane, n-pentane, and n-hexane. This natural
gas standard does not contain all components specified for
each type of Natural Gas Analyzer. Therefore, a second
checkout sample, the Universal Gas Calibration standard is
analyzed on the Natural Gas Analyzer.
•The Universal Gas Calibration standard contains helium,
neon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, methane, ethane, ethylene,
carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, acetylene, propane,
methyl acetylene, n-butane, n-hexane, and n-heptane. Not all
components in the Universal Gas Calibration standard are
specified for the Natural Gas Analyzer.

Checkout Information 2
Natural Gas Analyzers 9
More detailed information about the NGA Gas Calibration
standard and the Universal Gas Calibration standard can be
found in Appendix Aon page 27 and Appendix Bon page 28.
The components specified for each channel are described in
“Agilent 490 Micro GC - Natural Gas Analyzer A and the
Extended Version” on page 6 and “Agilent 490 Micro GC -
Natural Gas Analyzer B and the Extended Version” on page 7.
The NGA Gas Calibration standard and the Universal Gas
Calibration standard are shipped with the analyzer and used by
the Agilent Customer Engineer at installation. The factory
tuned method, final chromatogram (Test Report), and the
Natural Gas Analyzer User Manual are supplied on the Analyzer
CD.
To perform reference checks on the analyzer, use the NGA Gas
Calibration standard or the Universal Gas Calibration standard.
If OpenLAB CDS EZChrom is used, load the method from the
analyzer CD or create a method using the settings from the
method pdf-file available on the analyzer CD. For a quick start,
see the method settings for Natural Gas Analyzers listed in
Appendix Con page 29. Connect and inject the NGA Gas
Calibration standard.
To analyze helium on the CP-Molsieve 5A channel, use the
Universal Gas Calibration standard for the checkout. Ensure
that the carrier gas argon is supplied and configured before
starting the analysis. For more information on how to configure
the carrier gas for the analyzer see Appendix Don page 31.
Method settings for this analysis can be found in Appendix Eon
page 35.
The NGA Gas Calibration standard and the Universal Gas
Calibration standard do not contain hydrogen sulfide. A
reference chromatogram of hydrogen sulfide is included in this
manual.

Checkout Information 2
Natural Gas Analyzers 10
Natural Gas Analyzer A and the A Extended Version
HayeSep A straight
The HayeSep A channel of the Natural Gas Analyzer A is
specified for the analysis of methane, carbon dioxide, ethane,
and propane.
Analysis of the NGA Gas Calibration standard results in the
chromatogram shown in Figure 1.
Analysis of the Universal Gas Calibration standard results in a
chromatogram similar to Figure 2
.
Figure 1 NGA Gas Calibration standard analyzed with the HayeSep A channel on Analyzer A
Seconds
010 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
mV
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
Nitrogen
Methane
Carbon Dioxide
Ethane
Propane
Figure 2 Universal Gas Calibration standard analyzed with the HayeSep A channel on Analyzer A
Seconds
010 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
mV
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Carbon Dioxide
Ethylene
Ethane
Acetylene
Propane
Nitrogen
Methane