We are all used to know the traditional gas chromatograph instruments (GC) and their standardized analysis procedures. Fast GCs have been in the market for a while, even if their performances are often drop to mere standard GCs.
Fast Gas Chromatographs are a new way to conduct analyses up to 10 times faster than the time taken by traditional GC analyses. Indeed, users can obtain an analysis in just 1-2 minutes, maintaining a resolution suitable for the separation of medium and high complexity mixtures. This modality increases the number of analyzes performed per day, decreasing the analytical costs.
Fast GC installs different and narrow columns and has higher carrier gas pressure to push the sample. Both these conditions give the same analysis resolution of the traditional GC at a very lower time.
Columns with a smaller internal diameter will have a greater separative power, as the number of theoretical plates increases by tightening the internal diameter. A column for Fast GC with narrower internal diameter (for e.g. 100µm) only 10m long – against 25m of a conventional one – have the same number of theoretical plates. This allows you to maintain the same separative power and therefore it allows to reduce analysis times.
Moreover, Fast GC outputs have higher sensitivity thanks to the high value of the signal-to-noise ratio and the possibility to detect multiple compounds during a single analysis.
Example of Polystyrene analysis done with Traditional Gas Chromatograph and Fast GC.
We are able to fully exploit the potential of Fast GC through the combination of TGA and FTIR techniques with the new digital module for the EGA (evolved gas analysis).
The system allows multiple injections from a single sample analyzed. It has the possibility to trigger the gas analysis directly from the TGA using the software or by programming the table on the digital controller module. No installation of other software is required.
Temperature ramps can be also set up for analysis at a different grade, in search for elements presence that could degrade at high temperatures.
Coupling our EGA interface with a Fast GC gives faster, automated and reliable analysis outputs. Discover more about EGA interfaces here.