Corporate Retrospective 2007: OI Analytical

OI Analytical entered the analytical instrument business in 1969. The company's first instruments were designed to measure water quality. A Total Carbon System (TCS) which employed a wet oxidation technique was invented through the efforts of Dr. Alan D. Fredericks, a research scientist at Texas A&M University.

OI Analytical's involvement in the field of gas chromatography began in 1985 with the commercial release of a patented electrolytic conductivity detector (ELCD) for measurement of halogen, sulfur, and nitrogen compounds.

At PittCon 1986, OI Analytical introduced its first purge-and-trap instrument for concentrating volatile organic compounds in aqueous samples for analysis by gas chromatography.

In 1987, the company introduced a photoionization detector (PID) to selectively detect aromatic and olefinic compounds. In 1988, the first of the company's patented tandem detectors, a PID-ELCD, which combines a PID with a second selective detector to provide two simultaneous chromatograms, was introduced. The company then developed and introduced a flame ionization detector (FID) in 1989.

In 1994, OI acquired CMS Research Corporation, a manufacturer of continuous air-monitoring devices. Our continuous air monitoring systems are field-portable GC-based analyzers for continuous near-realtime monitoring of toxic chemicals. These systems are deployed in the field or at fixed site installations for Clean Air Act compliance, chemical plant monitoring, industrial hygiene applications, and monitoring chemical warfare agents (CWA) during demilitarization and disposal operations.

A halogen detector was introduced in 1995 for selective detection of halogenated compounds such as pesticides, VOCs, and PCBs. A pulsed flame photometric detector (PFPD) for selective, high-sensitivity measurement of sulfur and phosphorous compounds in complex matrices was introduced in 1996.

Since the mid-1980s, OI Analytical has continued to expand our portfolio of technologies and become a respected world-class supplier of instrumentation and accessories for gas chromatography. LCGC has been and will continue be an important means of communicating information on our company's chromatography products and their applications. We congratulate LCGC on its 25th anniversary and look forward to continuing our association in the future.

W. Gary Engelhart

Marketing Manager

OI Analytical

College Station, Texas