Agilent Technologies says its newly-introduced Agilent 7890A gas chromatograph (GC) platform delivers new levels of productivity, performance and flexibility
Unique in-oven capillary flow technology opens up a suite of highly useful applications, and enables productivity gains without the need to change existing methods.
"Throughput is important to all GC users, and the Agilent 7890A delivers more analytical runs per day by a substantial margin," said Shanya Kane, Agilent vice president and general manager of GC Systems.
"We looked at the entire platform in devising ways to reduce cycle time, and this holistic approach also helped us solve difficult applications challenges.
"Our main intent is to make the benefits of this technology accessible to the wide range of chromatographers".
Capillary flow technology: a breakthrough in solving application problems.
Agilent engineers have achieved the long-sought-after goal of connecting, switching, splitting and diverting capillary gas flows inside the GC oven while keeping the hardware leak-free despite oven-temperature cycling.
The credit-card-sized component's small mass lets it closely track oven temperature for excellent analytical performance, and the design features low dead volume.
Connectors are equally rugged thanks to a new ferrule design that also minimizes tailing.
Channels and connectors feature highly inert flowpaths.
Agilent capillary flow technology enables a suite of desirable configurations that were previously unreliable or unavailable:.
Backflush - eliminate post-run bakeout to dramatically reduce injection-to-injection time while eliminating sample carryover.
Backflush also extends column life and reduces detector maintenance.
Split - run up to three detectors simultaneously, including MSD, for maximum information.
Heart cutting - divert a peak of interest to a second column, which is useful for trace-level detection in complex matrices.
Comprehensive GC x GC - divert all peaks to a second GC column, without expensive cryogen.
QuickSwap - change the GC column in a GC/MS without venting the MS detector, saving hours per procedure.
"The Agilent 7890A GC offers optimal control of GC parameters in combination with the widest range of column dimensions and applications," said Frank David, R+D manager, Research Institute for Chromatography, Belgium.
"In addition, a complete selection of capillary flow technology modules, including backflush, influent and effluent splitting, as well as Deans switching, offers exciting possibilities for the most demanding users.
"With all these new improvements, any chromatographer should be able to find ways to improve his or her lab's productivity using the 7890A".
Productivity.
The Agilent 7890A saves time before and after the chromatographic run, which means that users need not change their current method for the chromatographic run.
This allows them to avoid extensive method development and revalidation.
Agilent has also introduced a variable speed fan for faster oven cool-down.
On instruments equipped with the Agilent 7683 automatic liquid sampler, sample injection preparation overlaps part of the oven cool-down ramp, further boosting throughput.
When combined with the new, robust backflush capability, injection-to-injection time can be significantly reduced.
The Agilent 7890A features a fifth-generation electronic pneumatics control (EPC) and digital electronics that set a new benchmark for pressure regulation to 0.001psi.
This provides greater retention-time locking precision and contributes to the platform's superior reliability.
Predictive maintenance.
The Agilent 7890A GC features new Agilent Lab Monitor and Diagnostic software, a real-time automatic system that notifies users of potential problems.
Designed for laboratories that maintain their own instruments, the software enables basic technicians to perform most maintenance and repair procedures before components fail or drift out of specification.
It can also save money by eliminating premature replacement of wear parts.
The modular, fully automated Agilent 7890A features the industry's widest selection of inlets, detectors, columns, consumables and sample introduction choices.
Software choices include the ChemStation Plus family, which provides modular software components for instrument control, data acquisition and data management.
Users can also choose EZChrom Elite, which is used in chromatography operations ranging from single user/single instrument to multi-user/multi-instrument laboratories.
The Agilent 7890A GC is available for order from 1 March 2007.
