Improved flow modulator supports broader GC use
Insight (photo) is a flow modulator for routine, comprehensive, two-dimensional gas chromatography (GCxGC). Thanks to simplified technology that avoids the use of liquid nitrogen, this device helps to reduce the cost and ownership of GCxGC systems, whose complexity often presents a major barrier to use for some laboratories, says the company. Insight uses precise control of gas flows to simply fill and flush a sample loop to fractionate the first-column effluent and deliver it to the second column. The simplified design is said to fit easily inside standard GC ovens, and uses reverse fill/flush dynamics to provide improved peak shape and increased peak capacity for GCxGC compared to first-generation flow modulators. Insight provides separation of volatiles from C1 to C40 and above without using liquid nitrogen, and eliminates modulation breakthrough for improved characterization of both high-loading and trace components. — SepSolve Analytical Ltd., Peterborough, U.K.