Sealing the Deal: Strategies for Leak-Free GC

Leaks are problematic for any operation that uses gas tubing and fittings. Even small gas leaks can lead to safety issues, reduced productivity, and increased costs.

• Leaks can introduce water and air into the gas flow and tubing.

• Persistent, unidentified leaks can saturate gas filters faster than expected and cause decreased sensitivity and/or elevated baselines in instrument detectors, such as GC, GC/MS, ICP-MS, or ICP-OES.

• Leaks can also lead to shortened lifetimes of some consumables, especially in GC systems.

• Further, leaks allow the gas to flow out of the fitting and can cause loss of production and revenue if trying to produce or collect and supply the gas.

Also, if gas is being consumed at a higher rate than expected because of leakage, gas supply costs will increase. Checking for and eliminating leaks from the gas source to the terminus can reduce safety concerns and reduce costs through decreased use of cylinders or fewer refills by the gas supply company.

Join us as we explore how to identify signs of leaks, address any existing leaks, and prevent future leaks.

Presenter: Alex Ucci (Application Engineer, Agilent Technologies, Inc.)

In his current position at Agilent, Alex provides application assistance and technical support for sample preparation products as well as GC and LC consumables. Before he joined Agilent in 2014, Alex was a graduate student at the Pennsylvania State University researching the morphology and surface properties of aerosol particles using a wide variety of analytical techniques. He has an MS degree in chemistry.