Economical, practical, effective – GC-2025

In accordance with Shimadzu’s new eco-label (see page 2 of this issue) new products are not only designed to be energy-optimized, but are also manufactured in an ecologically efficient way in order to already start conserving energy during production and, consequently, to reduce carbon dioxide emission. A current example is the GC-2025 (Figure 1).

Figure 1: GC-2025 AF with AOC-20i autosampler

30 – 50 % energy savings

Due to the improved oven design and insulating materials, the GC-2025 reduces electrical power consumption by approximately 30 % during normal operation, compared with the GC-2010 Plus. Gas chromatographs used in routine analysis or process monitoring must be ready-to-measure at all times, although they are not continuously measuring samples. Here in particular, the GC-2025 features various gas saver and shutdown as well as autostart functions that can be implemented, depending on how quickly the GC must be ready-to-measure once a new sample is pending.

Consistent use of the automatic shutdown function reduces the power use by approximately half, leading to a reduction of almost 237 kg CO₂ emissions within one year.

Small and compact, the GC-2025 also meets the increasing demand for more effective use of expensive laboratory space. Compared to the GC-2010 Plus, the oven compartment is reduced but offers enough space to accommodate analytical flow line components consisting of an injector, possibly a pre-column and separation column, as well as a detector. The oven offers adequate space for the installation of all customary capillary columns. Custom setups are not necessary.

Detector gases controlled electronically

The detector gases of the flame ionization detector are controlled via electrical pneumatics. The gases are program-controlled and can at all times be reduced or, when needed, increased and ignited. The sensitivity of the FID-2025 with a specified MDQ of 2 pgC/s (MDQ = Minimum Detectable Quantity) is only slightly less than the current most sensitive flame ionization detector featured in the high-end model GC-2010 Plus (MQD 1.5 pgC/s).

Efficient carrier gas savings

For applications with high split ratios, the electronic carrier gas supply of the split/splitless injector offers several possibilities to reduce the split gas flow during analysis. The GC re-establishes the required split ratio in time for the next injection. At split ratios of 1:100 or higher, more than 80 % of expensive carrier gases can be conserved per analysis. As the production of the technical gases used for GC is also energy intensive, not only the operating cost but ultimately also the emission of greenhouse gases is reduced.

Figure 2: Shimadzu’s eco-label

The GC-2025 is the beginning of an era of novel analytical instruments uniting performance and eco-friendliness. The use of ecologically selected materials allows for improved recycling of as many components as possible. Energy-saving and environmentally sound manufacturing methods are already applied during production. The real potential of the GC-2025, however, lies in its energy and gas savings during several years of use and, hence, its contribution to the reduction of CO₂ emissions.

According to Asian wisdom, “each journey begins with the first step.”