Optimizing Detector Setup and Operating Conditions

After analytes transit the inlet system and separate in the column, a detector transduces the contents of the exiting mobile phase from a variable chemical signal into an electrical signal that can be recorded and processed to yield qualitative and quantitative information about the analyzed mixture. As chemical to electrical transducers, detectors are susceptible to interference from chemical and electrical sources that originate outside as well as inside the chromatographic system. Such interferences can reduce minimum detectability, compromise peak area accuracy and repeatability, and detract from qualitative peak identification confidence. Gas chromatography (GC) detectors must be set up and maintained correctly. They require a suitable operating environment in the form of appropriate gases and electrical supplies, and temperatures and flows must fall within proscribed limits. Although many analyses do not require the highest available sensitivities, analysts should establish and maintain a healthy performance safety margin so that nominal performance degradation during regular maintenance intervals is accommodated.