Headspace Sampling for GC Ethanol Analysis

A research group from the South China University of Technology (Guangzhou, Guangdong, China) and the Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, Georgia) used a full evaporation headspace gas chromatography method to determine ethanol in fermentation liquor. The method required only 3 min to for the ethanol in a 50-µL sample to transfer nearly completely to the headspace of a sealed 20-mL sample vial at a temperature of 105 °C. The method used flame ionization detection. The method requires no sample pretreatment.