Conducted by John V. Hinshaw, Ph.D.
LCGC Magazine GC Connections Editor

Gas chromatographers often select GC columns and conditions from the past that have produced useful separations for known samples. When the laboratory is confronted with new analytical challenges such as reformulated materials or a completely new sample, an inlet system or detector with different requirements, or a need for higher sample throughput, directed optimization can result in significant improvements. By taking advantage of the full range of column dimensions, temperatures, and flows available to them, GC users can optimize a separation to attain specific goals. This audio seminar CD shows how these three principal variables affect separations and demonstrates how to determine which choices will yield the best results in a given situation.

This audio seminar CD covers these specific areas:

• How do flow, column length, and temperature affect GC separations?
• What happens when the column diameter is changed?
• What measurements help determine progress towards a separation goal?
• How can I decide which variables to change?
• Can I predict the effects of optimization in advance?

This Audio Seminar CD is presented by Dr. John Hinshaw, a worldwide expert on Gas Chromatography.

A detailed outline follows below.

Optimizing GC Conditions for Effective Separations

Part I

• Tradeoffs of Separation, Speed, Resolution, and Cost
• The Driving Forces behind GC Optimization
• Basic Relationships to Consider

Part II

• Choice of Column diameter
• Choice of Stationary phase
• Optimizing Length
• Optimizing Flow

Part III

• Optimizing Temperature
• Isothermal
• Temperature programming

Part IV

• Putting it all together

John V. Hinshaw, Ph.D.

Dr. Hinshaw is best known as the “GC Connections” column editor for LC/GC Magazine for the past 20 years. The author of over 110 publications and three books on GC, he has conducted numerous GC training courses and seminars both in the U.S. and overseas at local and national conferences as well as private corporations. He has worked in the analytical instruments field for over 25 years in research, instrument design and development, and applications at Varian, PerkinElmer, and now at Serveron, a producer of online GC analyzers.

He is a member of the Editorial Advisory Boards of LC/GC Magazine and the Journal of Separation Science. He is chairman of ASTM Subcommittee E13.19 on Chromatography and a member of IUPAC Analytical Chemistry Division V Committee on Analytical Chemistry, as well as a 25+ year member of the American Chemical Society. As the “GC Troubleshooting” and “GC Connections” column editor for LC/GC Magazine since 1986, Dr. Hinshaw has compiled an extensive collection of material that forms the basis of this course.