U15A3 Guide
• Using your lesson notes and any additional
research that you may find necessary into GC
and HPLC techniques, prepare an instructional
handbook with the following sections:
• This guide provides info on what to do, but you
should make your handbook either on another
PowerPoint or a word document if you prefer.
,Section 1
• Explain the function of capillary GC and HPLC
components. To illustrate your explanations, yo
will need to include block diagrams that you
have drawn or produced (N.B. photocopies or
downloaded images are not acceptable). To
conclude this section, you will need to research
and explain two examples of the use of HPLC
and two examples of the use of GC in real-life
applications.
,Capillary Gas Chromatography
• Capillary Gas Chromatography (GC) is a technique used to analyse samp
GC is used to identify what elements or compounds are present in the
sample. This is carried out using a method which involves many differen
stages. Stage 1 is where the carrier gas travels through the gas flow
regulator and into the column. Then, the sample is injected through the
injector port, and into the column. After this, the sample travels through
the column while being heated up, to transition into a gaseous state.
However, some of the sample may stay as a liquid, but it will evaporate
a gas before it finishes its journey through the column. Step 4 is where t
sample's components begin to reach the detector at the end of the
column, which then detects the retention time and amount of that
component to give the information to a computer, which then produces
chromatogram. The chromatogram produced is different for every samp
due to the different components present as well as the amount of each
component.
, Capillary Gas Chromatography Components
• In GC, the central piece of equipment which connects to everything else, is th
column. The column is kept in oven to keep it heated, but the column is used
pass the sample through and separate its components. There is also the gas fl
regulator, which controls how much carrier gas is inserted into the column. Th
carrier gas is connected to the gas flow regulator. The carrier gas is used as the
mobile phase is GC, which helps the sample move down the column. The sam
is passed through the injector port, which injects the sample into the column
separation. The column then passes the sample through the detector, which
separates any waste out of the sample, while detecting all the components an
how much of each are in the sample, as well as the retention time. The retent
time is the amount of time a sample is kept in the column. The detector is the
connected to a computer so that the computer can produce a chromatogram,
which shows the retention time of each components as well as the amount of
each compound using the area under the peak, which is calculated by using
A=height * width (width of the peak at ½ height).