Hi Reader, today, I have an exciting development to share with you.
After covering sustainability in tips, gloves, HPLC, and much more, we can finally talk about gas chromatography.
I noticed that Agilent had made progress in that area. So, I reached out, and luckily, through sponsoring this piece, they gave me deeper insight into the how and why behind their innovations.
Even if you don’t use GC, the following will give you an idea of current innovation and what to expect in other instruments.
Today's Lesson: Opportunities in Chromatography
A novelty for more sustainable instrumentation
Number of the Day
We discussed how smaller columns in HPLC can reduce solvent consumption. A similar opportunity now exists in gas chromatography. Although 30 m × 0.25 mm columns are often the standard, switching to a 20 m × 0.18 mm or 15 m × 0.15 mm column can reduce analysis time and carrier-gas consumption by 33% and 50%, respectively. At the same time, the smaller internal diameter often produces sharper peaks and improved sensitivity. But there is much more:
50
Unique Innovations You Need to Know
Let’s start with the basics: Energy consumption is on everyone’s mind, given our high demand, rising prices, and sustainability targets.
Agilent’s 8850 GC uses about 45% less energy than conventional systems during operation. However, several enhancements work together to enable this:
This is the Agilent 8850 GC system on the left and the 8890B system on the right. Check out the ACT-Ecolabel of 8850.
For instance, this is achieved through innovative air-bath oven heating systems that transfer energy more efficiently.
Secondly, as in their GC/MS systems, oil-free vacuum pumps use less energy and reduce dissipated heat due to lower friction.
Thirdly, the sleep/wake mode can cut energy consumption by 40% compared to ready mode.
Overall, this can quickly save more than 2 kWh a day—as much as a -20 °C freezer.
First, here is an application note for you if you'd like to know more about the Agilent 8850 GC performance.
Talking about energy consumption during idle times might seem insignificant, but it matters for two reasons:
Not everybody will follow instrument shutdown schedules, and in some instances, such as analytical environments, it might not be possible.
Although it may seem counterintuitive, shutting down a GC can sometimes be less sustainable than putting it into standby because restarting it may require extended stabilization and could introduce contamination.
This is the 8890B GC System, featuring an intuitive, full-function touchscreen user interface and SmartKey ports. On the right, you can see an example screenshot of their gas and power usage interface, which now allows you to calculate the cost.
Finally, the Agilent GC Assist diagnostics track gas and energy use per run and during idle time, helping you spot efficiency gains and detect gas leaks early.
Beyond Energy - Lower Gas Consumption
Let’s move to a topic that generally gets less attention but is just as important: gas consumption.
Agilent developed a smart module that allows you to cut your helium consumption by more than half.
Here again, this changes nothing about your experiments; it is about avoiding unnecessary helium waste between runs.
Click to enlarge. What you see is a helium conservation module for an upgraded 7890A/B (left) and 8890/8860 (right). If you'd like to learn more, check out this application note or this website. To discover more about the graph on the right, just click here.
They included a module that bridges two electronic pneumatic control channels to deliver a single carrier-gas flow to the GC.
This automatically switches the carrier-gas supply to an alternative, such as hydrogen or nitrogen, during GC idle time, keeping the flow path inert and the system at temperature during standby mode.
Agilent has a Helium Conservation Cost Savings Calculator available on their website. Check out how much you could save! P.S. As far as I know, helium prices currently range between €20–€50/L.
Additionally, they introduced Gas Saver, a mode that you can enable in the software. Similarly, it doesn’t change anything about your experiment; it simply reduces carrier-gas use when the system is idle, waiting for the next injection.
This matters so much because helium prices have risen up to tenfold over the past 20 years. During some crises, you may not be able to get any helium at all, since the few suppliers cannot always transport it through geopolitical hot zones.
Therefore, many are looking for ways to remove helium entirely - and it is possible:
From He to H₂
Helium is problematic in several ways. On the one hand, prices and supply are controlled by a handful of suppliers.
On the other hand, its sourcing comes with significant energy consumption and environmental impacts.
On the right, a large air separation plant also called Large Air Separation Units (ASUs). If you want to know more about helium sourcing, here is a concise overview where also the graphic on the left comes from. In short, helium is mainly sourced as a byproduct of natural gas extraction. It forms underground over millions of years through the radioactive decay of other elements. The main problems are that helium supplies depend on limited geological deposits, extraction is tied to fossil-fuel production, cryogenic separation is energy-intensive, and any helium that is vented, leaked, or used without recovery is permanently lost.
A recent attempt to quantify the impact of helium estimated its footprint and concluded that it comes with a clearly larger footprint than hydrogen (even if the latter is not produced on site).
I felt this was an important topic for Agilent as they have enabled many of their GC systems to switch more smoothly to hydrogen.
Read more about making the switch and system compatibility right here. And the data shown above can be found here. To convince your colleagues (or yourself), ask: Are you selling the future for the moment? Switching is not always easy, but it is often the more valuable long-term decision. I hope we can soon discuss on-site gas generators, which can reduce concerns about storing large quantities of hydrogen.
But we have to talk about concerns regarding performance and safety...
Fortunately, this is an area where sustainability, scientific performance, and safety improvements work together.
A New Ion Source
Interestingly, from a chromatographic perspective, hydrogen’s low viscosity and high diffusivity make it a good carrier-gas.
It allows analyses to be performed 1.5–2 times faster than with helium while maintaining comparable separation performance.
However, in GC/MS analyses with semivolatile organic compounds, pesticides, and other active compounds, hydrogen can lead to difficulties. Agilent wanted to do something about that:
Click to enlarge. On the left is the HydroInert source for GC/MS and GC/MS/MS. When using H₂ with GC/MS systems, it is common to note the potential hydrogenation or dechlorination of specific compound classes and the necessity of building internal compound libraries, as match scores with NIST or other helium-based libraries may be less reliable for hydrogen mass spectra. On the right are mass spectra for the peak eluting at the nitrobenzene retention time using hydrogen carrier-gas: (A) an extractor source, where unwanted hydrogenation to aniline is evident from the prominent m/z 93 ion, and (B) the Agilent HydroInert source, which produces an improved mass spectrum more consistent with nitrobenzene.
They created a HydroInert source that, as the name implies, is more inert to hydrogen carrier-gas, reducing sensitivity loss and spectral anomalies.
Just like their JetClean self-cleaning ion source, which cuts cleaning cycles from every 2 weeks to once every 2–3 months, it minimizes downtime caused by system maintenance and ion source cleaning.
Regarding safety, on-site gas-generators as those from from PEAK allow you to mitigate risk.
Additionally, Agilent offers an integrated hydrogen sensor module that checks for free hydrogen in the column oven and can trigger shutdowns.
Applying the Knowledge
There are three key points I’d love you to take away.
1. Today’s lesson should show how many improvements exist in places that are sometimes not obvious.
There are so many things we couldn’t talk about, e.g., Agilent eliminated single-use plastic “crackers” from chemical standards kits. They also introduced digital Certificates of Analysis instead of paper-printed versions. This not only reduces paper waste but also saves you time by eliminating the need to scan or organize dozens of paper documents. Get an overview of their packaging reduction here and learn more about their eCertificates here.
2. Sometimes, you can adapt methods to reduce impacts - as we saw with switching carrier-gases or using smaller columns.
However, in other instances, you can achieve significant savings simply by saving resources during idle times.
Thus, reviewing your choice of instruments and method parameters can lead to substantial savings.
3. If you decide to purchase a new item or replace an old one, consider using their trade-in or buyback program!
I love this so much because they are the only manufacturer I know of that allows you to trade in instruments or have them bought back.
Agilent uses their manufacturing sites to refurbish instruments with original parts, using the same tests as for new instruments, decontaminating them, replacing wearable parts, upgrading software, and providing new covers where appropriate. All test data and certificates are provided with the instrument. I urge you to watch the short 4-minute video or learn more about the program right here.
They use their manufacturing sites to refurbish what you no longer need and give it a second life!
They even offer a 12-month warranty, so you can be sure your instrument really works well!
How We Feel Today
References
Galletta, M., et al., 2022.Flow-modulated comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography combined with time-of-flight mass spectrometry: use of hydrogen as a more sustainable alternative to helium. Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, 414, pp. 6371–6378. doi:10.1007/s00216-022-04086-4.
Hetman, I., 2026.Life cycle assessment of hydrogen and helium as carrier gases in gas chromatography analysis. Green Chemistry, 28, pp. 839–851. doi:10.1039/D5GC05912G.
If you have a wish or a question, feel free to reply to this Email. Otherwise, wish you a beautiful week! See you again on the 23rd: )
Edited by Patrick Penndorf Connection@ReAdvance.com Lutherstraße 159, 07743, Jena, Thuringia, Germany Data Protection & Impressum If you think we do a bad job: Unsubscribe
Personal Note from Patrick, the Editor Hi Reader, have you heard about science-based targets? Almost every large company with corporate sustainability goals has SBTs - from AstraZeneca to Eppendorf. And some like Johnson & Johnson got theirs revoked... But what are those targets actually about? Let’s find out what they include and what that means for you. Today's Lesson: Science Based Targets What SBT and the SBTi are and how they work Number of the Day WAs of recently, there were11 458...
Personal Note from Patrick, the Editor Hi Reader, the following is quite unsettling. We think of plastics as a problem due to the waste. However, it seems some also bias our experiments. I couldn’t really believe my eyes as I went through the literature, but it seems quite clear that some plastics affect your data. Let’s discover in how far the contents of your tubes, tips, and plates leach into your samples. Today's Lesson: Leachables from Plastics To what extend do our lab items affect our...
Personal Note from Patrick, the Editor Hi Reader, I am excited about today’s piece. Honestly, I haven’t had Sartorius on my radar for greener lab solutions. But then I saw one of their brochures... So, I reached out, and they provided me with deeper insight into their efforts as part of sponsoring this piece. They innovated across a broad range of areas to help make laboratories more sustainable. I have to admit, I am impressed: Today's Lesson: Reviewing New Innovations Several options that...
