GC-2010 capillary gas chromatograph (Shimadzu)

	Next higher product group	gas chromatography system (GC system)
	Status	2010-10-01 sales existent
	Organisation	Shimadzu Corporation
	Group	Shimadzu (Group)

Shimadzu Corporation. (10/1/10). "Press Release: Shimadzu Has Launched the GC-2025 Energy-saving Gas Chromatograph, which Consumes 30% Less Power During Analysis".

Shimadzu Corporation has launched the GC-2025, its next-generation energy-saving capillary gas chromatograph. The new GC represents a comprehensive revision to the basic design, including a more compact column oven and improved thermal insulation to achieve energy savings of approximately 30 % compared to previous Shimadzu instruments. This reduction in energy consumption reduces environmental impact as well as operating costs. Despite its energy savings and compact design, the GC-2025 incorporates technologies from the high-end Shimadzu GC-2010 Plus capillary gas chromatograph to achieve the excellent performance essential for highly accurate and sensitive analysis.

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* A capillary gas chromatograph can perform qualitative and quantitative separation and analysis of samples containing a mixture of components. Samples are vaporized at high temperature and introduced by a gas into a capillary column that separates the individual components. The time for each component to pass through the column and reach the detector (retention time) is compared to results for known standard samples to identify the components. It then determines the amount of each component from the area of the chromatographic peak obtained in the results.
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Background to the Product Development

In response to increased public demands to reduce CO2 emissions and reduce the the environmental impact, Shimadzu launched its "Save the Energy Project" in January, 2010 to achieve energy savings of at least 25 %. This energy savings is accomplished by redesigning products using major components with higher energy efficiency. Based on the company-wide road map created with this project, Shimadzu has launched successive energy-saving products, such as the Prominence Preparative HPLC System (launched in April), the GCMS-QP2010 Ultra Gas Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer (launched in June), and (soon-to-be-launched) the PDA-8000 Optical Emission Spectrometer. The GC-2025 was developed as part of this project.

To separate samples composed of complex mixtures, a capillary gas chromatograph must be able to rapidly increase the column oven temperature to 300 °C. Also, since a capillary gas chromatograph can handle an extensive range of target analytes, it is used for many types of analysis. Therefore, it is not uncommon to see 50 or more multiple units used for long-term serial analysis in some laboratories. Since the GC operates with higher power consumption than other analytical instruments, large effects are anticipated from increased energy efficiencies.

This product cuts power consumption approximately 30 % and features a gas saver function and automatic shutdown and startup functions to reduce operating costs. The low power consumption allows the instrument to use a standard 15 A plug, enabling the instrument to be installed without replacing the power socket. This eliminates the costs of electrical installation and therefore further reduces installation costs.

The column oven can accommodate one commercial capillary column and is equipped with a split/splitless capillary injection port and a flame ionization detector (FID). It is the optimal gas chromatograph for single capillary analysis, and is expected to be employed mainly as a dedicated analyzer for quality control applications.

Features of the Product

1. High energy efficiency cuts power consumption by 30 %

(1) Optimal design for energy savings
The GC-2025 dramatically minimizes heat losses through high-performance insulation in the oven and smaller GC size to reduce its heating requirement. The energy-saving heater reduces the power consumption required for temperature programming by approximately 30 % in comparison to other model gas chromatographs (compared to previous Shimadzu instruments, power consumption reduced from approximately 280 kWh to 190 kWh for a single analysis cycle of approximately 40 minutes).

(2) Functions to Reduce Operating Costs
Minimizing the use of helium carrier gas contributes to savings in operating costs, since helium is a valuable and expensive resource. Use of the carrier gas saver function when the instrument is not in operation reduces helium consumption considerably.

The automatic shutdown and startup functions can be used to reduce electricity and gas consumption at night and in other periods when analyses are not being performed. Oven heating is stopped automatically when analysis is complete and the carrier gas and detector gas flow stops after a set time elapses. It is also possible to initiate gas flow after a set time and then begin oven heating. For one year's operation, these functions achieve an estimated* 57 % power savings and 378 kg reduction in CO2 emissions.

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* This is a comparison with a previous Shimadzu instrument without these functions used 260 days per year with 8 hours downtime each night.
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2. Compact Design Reduces Installation Footprint

The development of instruments with a small installation footprint is required to more effectively use laboratory space. The GC-2025 achieves meets this demand while incorporating all the functions required for normal capillary analysis. Its 400 mm width is 20% narrower than previous models, while height and depth are also smaller than previous models. The small footprint allows more effective use of laboratory space.

3. Excellent Performance and Sensitivity Support Trace Analysis

The GC-2025 incorporates technologies from the high-end Shimadzu GC-2010 Plus capillary gas chromatograph to achieve excellent reproducibility and reliable analysis results. The FID minimum detectable limit of 2 pgC/s offers sensitivity equivalent to high-end instruments to support trace analysis.

Shimadzu is the top GC manufacturer in Japan, with over 50 % share of the Japanese domestic market for gas chromatographs. It is the second manufacturer worldwide, with approximately 20 % world market share. Shimadzu intends to expand its market share with this product, and plans to develop more environmentally friendly, energy-saving products in the future.

[ More information at product page at http://www.shimadzu.com/products/lab/gc/5iqj1d000000n274.html ]