What is FAST-GC
MEGA s.n.c - Capillary Columns Laboratory -Via Plinio, 29 - 20025 Legnano (MI) - Italy - tel./fax:+39 0331.54.79.24 -
-
Since 1980
What is FAST-GC.
FAST-GC is a technique that allows you to reduce
the analysis time while keeping an adequate
resolution power, thus increasing your throughput.
FAST-GC can be applied to medium-to-high
complexity mixtures analysis and provides 3-10x
faster analysis compared to conventional GC.
What youneed tomakeFAST-GC.
To accomplish the FAST-GC youwill simply need:
•
a shorter column with a smaller internal
diameter (so-called “narrow-bore” columns).
Typically a 100µm ID x 5 or 10m length
columns are used
.
•
an high temperature rate (usually more than
15°C/min) and a fast acquisition frequency on
your detector
).
Just contact us at
to have more
information.
Some fundamental theoretical notion tobetter understandFAST-GC.
The parameter that best describes the theoretical separation power of a gas-chromatographic
capillary column is the
number of the theoretical plates (N)
.
N is calculated as:
where L is the column length and H is the height of the theoretical plates that can be
approximated verywell with the column’s internal diameter (ID).
Is then easy to calculate that a conventional column 0.25mm ID x 25m has 100000 theoretical
plates (N). But reducing the internal diameter of the column, we can keep constant the value
of N reducing the length of the column. In fact a 100µm ID x 10m has as well 100000
theoretical plates that is the same separation power provided by a conventional GC column.
Narrow bore short columns consent to use high temperature rates and high linear velocities
maintaining optimal conditions during the practical usage.That is why, to reduce columns sizes
allows to speed up your analysis while retaining a proper separation level.
N
=
L
H
;
(
H
⇠
ID
)
The importanceof the selectivityof the stationaryphase inFAST-GC.
The selectivity of the stationary phase is a
key parameter
in gas-chromatography. It takes an
even more important role in FAST-GC, where it helps to compensate a natural compression
of the peaks, in particular of critical pairs of peaks, in the very short “fast”analysis time.
Have the right selectivity gives the way to solve even very difficult analytical problems but
keeping all the advantages of the FAST-GC technique.
In the following pages you will find some application notes where the selectivity of the
stationary phase has been investigated andwhere is role is emphasized.
