text: Moving wire IRMS is useful for analyzing carbon-13 ratios of compounds in a solution, such as after purification by liquid chromatography.  The solution (or outflow from the chromatography) is dried onto a nickel or stainless steel wire.  After the residue is deposited on the wire, it enters a furnace where the sample is converted to CO and water by combustion.  The gas stream finally enters a capillary, is dried, ionized, and analyzed.  This process allows a mixture of compounds to be purified and analyzed continuously, which can decrease the analysis time by a factor of four. Moving wire IRMS is quite sensitive, and samples containing as little as 1 nanomole of carbon can yield precise (within 1‰) results.