Pneumatic nebulisers—poor pumps and inferior sub-samplers

Abstract

The dual roles of pneumatic nebulisers as pumps and as sub-samplers in analytical atomic spectrometry are critically discussed. It is demonstrated that the nebuliser-spray chamber-atomiser combination may be regarded as four separate, but interacting, sub-samplers. The problems encountered through the use of nebulisers as pumps and at each sub-sampling stage are critically assessed. Methods that have been, or may in future be, used to minimise these problems are briefly considered.