Agilent Increases GC Productivity with Low Thermal Mass Rapid Heating/Cooling Option

Agilent Technologies Inc. has announced a new low thermal mass (LTM) system for rapid heating and cooling of its 7890A gas chromatograph (GC), increasing productivity by reducing analytical cycle times. This option is also available for the older Agilent 6890 GC. Agilent acquired this proprietary LTM technology with the purchase of RVM Scientific in June 2008. The patented design involves wrapping heating elements and temperature sensors directly around the GC column, enabling faster temperature cycles compared to standard oven-based configurations. “Customers constantly tell us they want to run more samples per shift, and our new LTM delivers this in a big way,” said Shanya Kane, Agilent vice president and general manager, Gas Chromatography Systems and Workflow Automation. “We’re constantly seeking ways to make GC and GC/MS more productive for routine analyses and challenging applications, and this is the latest example of success in these efforts.” Synergy with Agilent Capillary Flow Technology The fast cycle times of LTM are particularly suited for the hydrocarbon industry, environmental analysis, food safety testing, forensics, pharmaceutical QA/QC and food/flavour/fragrance analysis. Until now, due to their interwoven heating elements, a concern about LTM columns was protecting the inlet end of the column from contamination. Agilent already had a solution to this problem with its Capillary Flow Technology. Using this proprietary, leak-free method of flow connection and diversion, Agilent developed a robust backflush function, letting users flush high boiling compounds back out of the column inlet to extend column life. This technique has the added benefit of eliminating time-consuming column bake-out of these late eluting compounds. Agilent Capillary Flow Technology also enables other useful configurations, including multidimensional GC and comprehensive GC for complex samples. With LTM technology, multiple LTM column modules can be temperature programmed for simultaneous, independent operation.