Today the GC-ECD was tested and appears to be working well. The detectors are running a bit high so a bake out is in progress for the weekend. The bake-out will degrade and volatilize any residual coatings on/in the detector thus lowering the background signal. The detectors were baked briefly yesterday and the background signal did significantly come down. The current background for both ECD detectors is currently around 750, optimally a value below 500 is desired, so I'll see what a longer bake out does. The original background before any work began had the front at about 2500 and the rear about 1200, so both were dirty.
The GC-ECD was tested with hexane samples today and it does not appear that there is any residual contamination. Samples taken from the roto-vaps to check for contamination did confirm that these were initially contaminated. A subsequent washing of the systems removed the contamination, and all was happy again in the lab.
Anna and her crew worked on finishing the LFT extractions. These extractions are progressing well and all are doing a good job following procedures. I have not seen any problems to note so far with the extractions.
Once the box of supplies from OSU shows we can begin final preparation of the samples and the method calibration.
So far all is progressing as expected.
Reporting from Senegal, Good night and Good Luck. TAH
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