Factorial analysis and response surface of a gas chromatography microwave-induced plasma system for the determination of halogenated compounds

Abstract

In this work the applicability of the factorial analysis and response surface technique has been established in order to optimize a gas chromatography microwave-induced plasma system with a surfatron cavity. The forward power and the flow rate of the plasma gas were found to be the most critical parameters. Prediction equations and response surface plots were obtained for chlorobenzene and bromobenzene. Detection limits for chlorine and bromine determination under optimum conditions were comparable to those obtained by other workers using a ‘one variable at a time’ method.