Heated Autosampler for GC application

Are you running special Gas Chromatography applications that require keeping a sample heated from the moment in which you load it in the autosampler up to the injection? In this post we try to understand how to handle this kind of complex sample to allow an automated analysis by GC/GC-MS.

Only samples in liquid or gaseous form can enter the GC inlet and column. Samples that are solid (or semi-solid) at room temperature and pressure must usually be put into a liquid form, unless only the volatile portion is of interest: in that case headspace, purge and trap, or TD techniques are used to isolate that portion of the sample.

In all other cases the solid material should go through different preparation steps - that may require added heat - to pass to a liquid form and to be suitable for injection. A standard automatic liquid sampler would not be suitable to handle these samples: while sitting in the autosampler tray, the samples will cool down and revert back to their original form. Even if the sample is injected immediately or kept warm by a heated tray, the sample may clog the needle resulting in a damaged syringe if the syringe is not heated as well.

To answer this need, HTA has designed an automatic liquid sampler featuring an heated sample rack and an heated syringe, with temperatures that can be programmed independently. This autosampler allows to keep the sample at the desired liquid state until the injection in GC inlet.

The liquid GC autosampler with heating capabilities belongs to the Custom GC autosamplers by HTA: they are designed and manufactured to answer to specific customer requests, with the goal to successfully carry out unpopular applications and sample prep routines.