Possibilities and limitations of fast temperature programming as a route towards fast GC

One possible way to speed up a gas chromatographic analysis is the application of fast temperature programming by using resistive heating techniques. With this heating technique programming rates up to 20° per second can be reached. A relative standard deviation of retention times better than 0.2% is obtained. Using fast temperature programming the analysis-times of a mineral oil sample, an industrial oligomer sample, and toxic compounds in diesel fuel have been reduced 5 to 20 times, compared to a standard temperature programmed analysis. In most cases resistive heating cannot be applied to reduce the analysis time of a complex sample. The use of fast temperature programming is preferable to the use of short columns and columns operated at above-optimum carrier gas velocities.