Troubleshooting LC Systems: A Comprehensive Approach to Troubleshooting LC Equipment and Separations

Description

Over the last 15 years, high-performance liquid chromatogra­ phy (LC) has made the transition from an instrument used only by experts in research labs to a tool used for routine applications by relatively unskilled workers. With this transition have come in instrumentation and column technology. In major advances the past, the operator had to be a jack-of-all-trades, with a screw­ driver, soldering iron, and various wrenches as constant compan­ ions in the LC lab. Today, many instruments contain micropro­ cessors as powerful as those of mainframe computers of earlier days. With this technology has come a variety of self-diagnostic tools that allow the LC system to locate many of its own prob­ lems. Traditionally, well-honed LC troubleshooting skills have been a result of years of work at the bench. Today the LC system itself often can do a better job of troubleshooting than the operator can. Yet many of the problems of the past are still the major problems of today: air bubbles, check valves, detector lamps, and, of course, problems with the separation. An added pressure on the operator of today's LC system is that of productivity-the lab often cannot afford unnecessary downtime. This means that the operator has to be a troubleshooting expert, or has to have that expertise at his or her fingertips. The present book was written to provide this expertise in an easy-to-use format for users at all levels of experience. Front Matter....Pages i-viii Introduction....Pages 1-9 Logical Approaches to Troubleshooting....Pages 11-77 Separation Basics....Pages 79-108 Principles of Troubleshooting....Pages 109-118 Prevention of Problems....Pages 119-137 Reservoirs and Degassing....Pages 139-164 Pumps....Pages 165-200 Tubing....Pages 201-216 Fittings....Pages 217-234 Injectors and Autosamplers....Pages 235-290 Columns....Pages 291-326 Detectors....Pages 327-366 Recorders and Data Systems....Pages 367-383 Separation Problems....Pages 385-423 Separation Problems....Pages 425-454 Problems in Quantitation....Pages 455-479 Gradient Elution and Sample Pretreatment....Pages 481-500 Back Matter....Pages 501-515