Technical Tips

The increase in efficiency offered by narrow bore GC columns often improves separation enough to allow the same separation to be done in much less time. Figure 1 shows the separation of 17 priority Polyaromatic Hydrocarbon contaminants using a standard 30 meter x 0.25 mm x 0.25 μm column (b = 250). By choosing a column with similar phase ratio, but smaller ID the method can be shortened by over 50 % while still meeting resolution requirements for key analytes (Figures 1 & 2).

Figure 1: Separation of PAHs on ZB-5ms
30 meter x 0.25 meter x 0.25 µm (b = 250)

Figure 2: Separation of PAHs on ZB-5ms
20 meter x 0.18 mm x 0.18 μm (b = 250)