Flame Ionization Detector

Flame Ionization Detector

A flame ionization detector (FID) is a type of gas detector used in gas chromatography. The first flame ionization detector was developed in 1957 by scientists working for the CSIRO in Melbourne, Australia.

The detection of organic compounds is most effectively done with flame ionization. Biochemical compounds such as proteins, nucleotides, and pharmaceuticals can be studied with flame ionization as well as other detectors, like thermal conductivity, thermionic, or electrolytic conductivity due to the presence of nitrogen, phosphorus, or sulfur atoms or because of the universality of the thermal conductivity detector. However, typically the biochemical compounds have a greater amount of carbon present than other elements. This means that a particular compound may be more easily detected using flame ionization over the other methods because of higher carbon concentration and also flame ionization's sensitivity.