The hydrogen content of atmospheric air at ground level

✍ Scribed by E. Glueckauf; G. P. Kitt

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1957
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 411 KB
• Volume: 83
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0035-9009
• DOI: 10.1002/qj.49708335808

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

A method is described for the separation and determination of hydrogen in air samples of approximately 200 litres N.T.P. by volume. The hydrogen is fractionally distilled from the bulk of the sample, oxidized to water by passing over heated copper oxide and finally condensed in a trap cooled in liquid oxygen. After freeing from the contaminating gases by pumping, the water is released from the trap and measured as vapour in a small calibrated volume.

Although the accuracy of the method in its present form is not better than ± 10 per cent, the results seem to indicate that the hydrogen content of atmospheric air is a varying quantity.

The average hydrogen content of air at ground level is 0.6 parts per million.