Dopant-assisted negative photoionization Ion mobility spectrometry coupled with on-line cooling inlet for real-time monitoring H2S concentration in sewer gas

•An innovated method based on DANP-IMS was put forward.•Influence of moisture was effectively reduced via an on-line semiconductor cooling inlet.•LOQs for humid H2S were achieved to ≤79.0 ng L−1.•Sewer H2S content in manholes was monitored in real time and its correlation with the resident daily activities was observed.

Malodorous hydrogen sulfide (H2S) gas often exists in the sewer system and associates with the problems of releasing the dangerous odor to the atmosphere and causing sewer pipe to be corroded. A simple method is in demand for real-time measuring H2S level in the sewer gas. In this paper, an innovated method based on dopant-assisted negative photoionization ion mobility spectrometry (DANP-IMS) with on-line semiconductor cooling inlet was put forward and successfully applied for the real-time measurement of H2S in sewer gas. The influence of moisture was effectively reduced via an on-line cooling method and a non-equilibrium dilution with drift gas. The limits of quantitation for the H2S in ≥60% relative humidity air could be obtained at ≤79.0 ng L−1 with linear ranges of 129–2064 ng L−1. The H2S concentration in a sewer manhole was successfully determined while its product ions were identified by an ion-mobility time-of-fight mass spectrometry. Finally, the correlation between sewer H2S concentration and the daily routines and habits of residents was investigated through hourly or real-time monitoring the variation of sewer H2S in manholes, indicating the power of this DANP-IMS method in assessing the H2S concentration in sewer system.

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