The Challenge in Column selection for GC

Column selection basically is divided into 3 situations:

• Some want to replace an existing column and need a similar type to do the exact separation. Here the challenge is to find the exact similar phase technology, which has become more difficult with the introduction of the proprietary “arylene” stabilized phases.
• The other situation is that the user wants to reduce cost of operation of an existing method. Here there are many different drivers for selecting a “different” column. This can be a shorter analysis time(cost per analysis) where shorter columns of similar ID will help out, but also smaller bore columns will allow us to maintain efficiency and reduce the run time. Also a different carrier gas may be of interest to become less dependent on Helium.
• Some users want a better separation or develop a new method having lower detection limits. Here a stationary phase is to be selected for the best separation.

Modeling software allow you todo a lot of work on your laptop even before touching a GC or buying columns. Other drivers can be: need for a more robust solutions, eliminate or apply column coupling or just have a longer column life time.

Several examples will be shared and discussed.

Presenter: Jaap de Zeeuw