Practical fast gas chromatography: methods, instrumentation and applications

Minimal time of operation in gas chromatography (GC) has been a research topic ever since the introduction of GC. Today, revived interest in fast GC is seen to be driven by applications, such as process control and high-throughput analysis, or by the desire to reduce the costs of operation and ownership in routine analysis. Numerous options exist for speeding up GC separations. Which option to select depends strongly on the application under study. The first step should always be to see if it is possible to trade resolution for time. If this approach fails, the concept of “resolution-normalised conditions” comes into play. An overview of options for faster chromatography and a system for classifying chromatograms are brought together to give guidelines for speeding up specific applications. The practical consequences of implementing these options are discussed and the instrumental requirements are outlined. Applications of the various methods for faster GC are given.