Benefits of Gas Chromatography

Gas Chromatography is a very similar technique to that of column photography. The only difference is that in this process, gas is used a mobile phase as compared to liquid. GasChromatograph is now widely used technique and element that helps in separation of gaseous and volatile components that are difficult to analyze and separate other ways. Gas chromatography has wide applications for separating the volatile sample.

 Gas Chromatography was discovered by Mikhail Semenovich Tsvett as a separation technique to separate compounds. If we study in organic chemistry then liquid solid column chromatography is being used to separate the various organic compounds in solution. Amongst the various types of gas chromatography, Gas liquid chromatography is one of the most commonly used and preferred method to separate organic compounds.

The use of Portable Gas chromatograph, Fused silica capillary column and other components is invaluable tool for the identification of molecules and particles. A typical gas chromatograph consists of a column, an injection port, ovens, heaters, carrier gas flow control equipments and other elements that help in maintaining the temperature of injection port and column.

In order to separate the compounds of liquid gas chromatography, a solution sample containing the organic compound of the interest is being injected to the sample port and vaporized. The vaporized samples are then injected and carried on by inert gas which, most often used to be nitrogen or helium. This inert gas then passes through a glass packed column with liquid coated silica. Material that is less soluble in liquid increases the results in faster than the material having greater solubility.

Advantages of Gas Chromatography are as follows:

•            The technique has high resolution power as compared to others. Once can easily resolve the complex mixtures into compounds using Gas Chromatography. The separation, identification and determination of numerous compounds having negligible difference in their boiling points can be resolved by this technique.
•            Sensitivity detection is very high with thermal conductive detectors. You can detect up to 100 ppm whereas electron capture, flame detectors and phosphorus detectors can detect parts per billion, ppm or picogram respectively.
•            It gives relatively good precision and accuracy.
•            A micromethod that requires small size apparatus and micro liter of sample is sufficient for complete analysis
•            The speed of analysis is very fast.
•            Use of gas as the moving phase has several benefits of rapid equilibrium between the stationary and moving phase, allows the use of high carrier gas velocity and also leads to fast analysis in seconds, hours or minutes.
•            Relatively simple instrumentation operations and does not requires highly skilled professional and thus, ideal for routine analysis
•            It provides quantitative as well as qualitative analysis at a time possible
•            The area produces for each peak is proportional to the concentration
•            The cost of gas chromatography is lower as compared to obtained data