Instructor: Sir Zaid

Group Members: Asad Tariq,Syed Naqi Raza

Topic of Discussion: Gas Chromatography
What is Gas chromatography?

Gas chromatography is a chromatography technique that can separate and

analyze volatile compounds in gas phase
Gas chromatography involves a sample being vapourized and injected into
the head of the column. The sample is transported through stationary
phase by the flow of inert gas
Depending on stationary phase , there are two types of gas
chromatography
Gas-liquid chromatography (GLC)
Gas-solid chromatography (GSC).
Gas Solid Chromatography (GSC)
 Principle of separation is Adsorption
Here the mobile phase is gas
 while the stationary phase is solid
Gas Liquid Chromatography (GLC)
The principle of separation is Partition
Mobile phase is gas
A liquid (over an inert solid support) is used as the stationary phase
Basic Principle
Basic principle of GC is partition
Mixture of the components to be separated are converted into vapours
and mixed with gaseous mobile phase
The components which have more attraction for stationary phase m0ve
slowly elute latter while which have lower attraction for stationary phase
move faster
No two components have same partition coefficient
Partition coefficient is ‘t he ratio of solubility of substance between two
immiscible liquids at constant temp’
Instrumentation
Carrier gas
Sample injection port
Column
Detectors
Carrier gas
Mostly Helium,hydrogen,nitrogen and argon are used
Choice of the carrier gas is also depend upon the type of detector being
used
Carrier gas system is also connected with pressure controller to control the
pressure of the gas , molecular sieve to remove water vapours and flow
regulator to ensure the constant flow of gas
Pressure range (10-50Pa)
Flow rate
Carrier gas
The carrier gas should be
 chemically inert
Cheap and easily available
not cause fire
give best result
 and suit able for analyte and detector
Sample injection port
Injection port is connected to the columns head
Since sample should be in vaporized state,injection port is connected with
oven which main the temp 20- 50°C above the boiling point of sample
Moslty,calibrated microsyringe is used
Columns
Columns are of different shapes and sizes mostly made up of
copper,stainless steel,aluminium,glass etc
Column consist of support material and stationary phase i.e liquid
Support material
These are mostly solid : diatomaceous earth particles,porous
polymers,glass beeds,sand etc
Main purpose of the support material is to provide support to liquid
mobile phase.It should have follwing characteristics
Have large surface area
Chemically inert
Should get uniformly coated with liquid phase
Should be thermostable
Liquid phase
It should have follwing characteristics
Should be non.volatile
Should have high decomposition temp
Should chemically inert
should be similar to solute i.e polar for polar
Types of column
There are two general types of columns
Packed columns
Open tubular columns
Packed column
They are densely packed with solid support material(diatomaceous earth
particle) coated with liquid stationary phase
Length (1.5- 10 m long
Diameter (2-4 mm)
Open tubular columns

These are of two types

 Wall-coated open tubular (WCOT) column
 Support-coated open tubular (SCOT) column
Wall-coated open tubular (WCOT) column

Wall coated columns consist of whose walls are coated with liquid
stationary phase
the most popular types of capillary columns is a special WCOT column
called the fused-silica wall-coated (FSWC) open tubular column
These columns are much thinner than glass columns, with diameters as
small as 0.1 mm and lengths as long as 100 m
Support-coated open tubular (SCOT) column

The column walls are first coated with a thin layer (about 30 micrometers
thick) of adsorbent solid
Adsorbent solid is then treated with the liquid stationary phase
SCOT columns are capable of holding a greater volume of stationary phase
than a WCOT column
WCOT columns still have greater column efficiencies.
Detector

The detector is the device located at the end of the column which provides
a quantitative measurement of the components of the mixture as they
elute in combination with the carrier gas
Type of Detector Applicable Samples
Mass Spectrometer (MS) For any sample
Flame Ionization (FID) Hydrocarbons
Thermal Conductivity (TCD) Universal
Electron-Capture (ECD) Halogenated hydrocarbons
Photoionization (PID) Vapor and gaseous Compounds