Essential GC Accessories

Flame ionization detection (FID) will not respond to hydrogen or helium, but other detection methods such as thermal conductivity (TCD), pulsed discharge (PDD), or helium ionization (HID), the latter with hydrogen as the unretained substance, should respond well. Remember to use the same inlet pressure and oven temperature to remeasure unretained peak times for any specific column; that is, one with the same dimensions, film thickness, and stationary phase for comparative purposes. Gloves, Lint-free Polymeric nitrile or vinyl lint-free gloves are essential for column installation and detector maintenance, especially for high-sensitivity detectors such as mass spectrometric, electron capture, and helium ionization types. Tube Blender I use this simple tool to make controlled bends of copper or stainless steel tubing for connecting the supply tanks to the filters, and then to the back of the instrument.