Short column GC/MS with increased analysis speed by peak-hopping

Speeding up analytical time is the best to enlarge the profit from GC/MS (gaschromatography/mass spectrometry) analysis. Especially in field applications like emergency response with mobile GC/MS high speed analysis are demanded. GC separation is done with short capillary columns and optimized temperature programs consisting of extremely high heating rates. GC/MS analysis of organic mixtures are performed in less than 2 min. For this purpose a new infrared heated GC has been developed. A maximum heating rate of 1000 degrees C/min in a temperature range up to 300 degrees C is achieved. The sample throughput is raised by factor 5 to 20 compared to fast GC/MS or normal laboratory methods.