Use of High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry to Identify Products from Microwave Discharges in COAL-D2O Mixtures

Abstract

Abstract Reactions of carbonaceous materials and H O in microwave discharges are known to produce H2, HCN, CO, CO2, and light hydrocarbon gases (primarily C1 and C2) in varying amounts. To determine if the solid or the H2O is the source of hydrogen in formation of the above products, Fu and Blaustein reacted coal and graphite with D2O.1 Low-resolution mass spectra of the gaseous products from the D2O experiments indicated the possibility of non-deuterated and corresponding deuterated compounds in the reaction mixture. Conventional separation and analytical techniques are not applicable to mixtures of this type. This communication describes the use of a high-resolution mass spectrometer, operated at a resolution 35 percent less than theoretically required for separation of the H2-D doublet, to electrically measure precise masses for mixtures containing micromole amounts of deuterated and non-deuterated light gases.