S. S.

College, Jehanabad
Department: Zoology
Class: M.Sc. Semester II
Subject: Zoology
Topic: Gas Liquid Chromatography (GLC)
Mode of teaching: Google classroom & WhatsApp
Date & Time: 21.09.2020 & 10:30
Teacher: Praveen Deepak

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GAS LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY
____________________________________________________________
Gas liquid chromatography (GLC) is an analytical chromatographic technique where by the
components of a mixture or sample in the gaseous state are separated as the sample passes over a
stationary liquid phase and a gaseous mobile phase. It is used to determine the presence or
absence and/or quantity of presence of sample that is usually organic in nature or gases.

It is basically a type of gas chromatography (GS) where stationary phase is used as liquid. In gas
chromatography mobile phase used is always a gas or mixtures of sample in gaseous state,
whereas stationary phase may be a liquid or solid. With this respect, there are two types of gas
chromatography; gas liquid chromatography and gas solid chromatography. Therefore, in the
GLC or gas liquid chromatography, the components need to be volatile for a successful analysis.
The sample component should also be below 1.25 KD (1250 Da) in their molecular weight and
thermally stable so they don’t degrade in the GC system. It is widely used technique across most
industries: for quality control in the manufacture of many products from cars to chemicals to
pharmaceuticals; for research purposes from the analysis of meteorites to natural products; and
for safety from environmental to food to forensics. Further to identify the chemical components,
mass spectrometers (GC-MS) is coupled with gas chromatography.

It is due to certain advantages due to gaseous nature of mobile phase such as rapid movement of
sample in the stationary phase (liquid or solid) and less time to diffuse in other directions, it has
better resolution compared to other chromatography techniques involving liquid as mobile phase
(liquid chromatography) and we get narrower bands and a sharper separation. Martin and James
published the first article on gas chromatography (GC) in 1952 and thereafter, the first
commercial instruments appeared in in 1956.

Principle of GLC

It is a type of partition chromatography and therefore the principle of separation in gas liquid
chromatography (GLC) is partition and the components of the sample will partition
(i.e. distribute) between the two phases: the stationary phase and the mobile phase. Gas is used as
mobile phase and liquid which is coated on a solid support is used as a stationary phase. The
mixture of components to be separated is converted to vapor and mixed with gaseous mobile
phase. The component which is more soluble in stationary phase travel slower and eluted later
and the components which are less soluble travel faster and eluted first. Hence the components
are separated according to their partition coefficient. Therefore, a GLC analysis depends upon
following criteria;

− Volatility: Unless a compound is volatile, it cannot be mixed with mobile phase, and
therefore compounds that don’t have volatile property, cannot be separated out.
− Thermostability: The compounds which are in solid or liquid form, first need to be
converted to gaseous form so they have to be heated to a higher temperature. At that
temperature, the compounds have to be thermostable.

Compounds that have a greater affinity for the stationary phase spend more time in the column
and thus elute later and have a longer retention time (Rt) than samples that have a higher
affinity for the mobile phase. Affinity for the stationary phase is driven mainly by intermolecular

Praveen Deepak, Department of Zoology, S. S. College, Jehanabad

interactions and the polarity of the stationary phase can be chosen to maximize interactions and
thus the separation. Ideal peaks are Gaussian distributions1 and symmetrical, because of the
random nature of the analyte interactions with the column.

In the GLC analysis, a sample containing the solutes is injected into a heated block where it is
immediately vaporized and swept as a plug of vapor by the carrier gas stream into the column
inlet. The solutes are adsorbed by the stationary phase and then desorbed by a fresh carrier gas.
The process is repeated in each plate as the sample is moved toward the outlet. Each solute
travels at its own rate through the column. Their bands are separated into distinct zones
depending on the partition coefficients, and band spreading. The solutes are eluted one after
another in the increasing order of their kD and enter into a detector attached to the exit end of the
column. Here they register a series of signals resulting from concentration changes and rates of
elution on the recorder as a plot of time versus the composition of carrier gas stream. The
appearance time, height, width, and area of these peaks can be measured to yield quantitative
data.

Instrumentation of the GLC

Gas liquid chromatography (GLC) system consists of carrier gas, flow regulator and flow meter,
injection device, columns, temperature control device, detectors, and recorders and integrators.
The details of these components are as follows;

Carrier Gas: The type of carrier gas to be employed presents some choice, but is usually
dictated by the type of detector used. The choice of carrier gas determines the efficacy of
chromatographic separation. The most common carrier gases (mobile phase) are helium (He),
nitrogen (N2), hydrogen (H), and argon (Ar). Generally, helium is preferred for thermal
conductivity detectors because of its high thermal conductivity relative to that of most organic
vapors. Nitrogen is preferable when a large consumption of carrier gas is employed. It is filled in
tank from where it passes through a toggle valve, a flow meter (range is 1 – 1000ml/min),

1
Gaussian distribution, also known as normal distribution, is a bell-shaped probability distribution curve that is
symmetric about the mean.

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capillary restrictors, and a pressure gauze with a range of 1 – 4atm. Rate of flow of carrier gas is
adjusted by means of a needle valve mounted on the base of the flow meter and controlled by
capillary restrictors. The operating efficiency of the GLC is directly dependent on the
maintenance of constant flow of carrier gas. The carrier gas must be inert, less expensive,
suitable for detectors, high purity, compressible and should not cause the risk of fire. It is stored
under high pressure in cylinder and used when required.

Flow regulators: As carrier gases are stored under high pressure, flow regulators are used to
deliver the gas with uniform pressure or flow rate. Flow meter is used to measure the flow rate of
carrier gas. The examples of flow meter include rotameter and soap bubble meter.

− Rotameter: It is a device used to measure gas or fluid flow, in which a float rises in a
tapered vertical tube to a height dependent on the rate of flow through the tube. In this
type of meter, gas enters the tapered tube, some of which strikes directly the float and
some of the gas passes from side. Here two forces act on the float namely up thrust force
i.e. buoyancy, and the weight of the float. When equilibrium is established, the float
comes to rest.

− Soap bubble flow meter: In this type of gas flow meter, soap liquid is used in the rubber
bulb in the base due to which bubbles are formed when gas is flown through the tube. A
glass tube with a inlet for gas is placed at the bottom of flow meter. When the bulb is
gently pressed of soap solution is converted into a bubble by the pressure of a carrier gas
and travel up. The time required for the soap film to move between two graduations on
the burette is then measured and converted to flow rate. It is an accurate device for
reproducing the rate of the carrier gas.

Sample injection system: Liquid samples are injected by a micro-syringe with a needle inserted
through a self-scaling, silicon-rubber septum into a heated metal block by a resistance heater.
Gaseous samples are injected by a gas-tight syringe or through a by-pass loop and valves.
Typical sample volumes range from 0.1 to 0.2 ml. The sample is usually introduced in the form
of solution at ~0.5ml into the injector and then injected into the column. It has dual role; it
provides an inlet for the sample and vaporizes the sample and mixes it with mobile phase. Modes
of injection vary according to their types, which are mainly of three types; direct vaporization
injection, cold on-column injection, and split/splitless injection.

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 − Direct vaporization injection: In direct flash vaporization injection, a liquid sample is
injected via a syringe into a heated injection port. The sample is rapidly vaporized in the
injection port, and then transferred to the column.
− Cold on-column injection: In this injection method, the sample is injected directly on
column and vaporization occurs after the injection. Needle penetrates the column kept at
4C before raising it to normal operating temperature. It is very useful for thermolabile
components.
− Split/splitless column: This device is designed to maintain the constant flow of carrier
gas and to control the amount of sample enters into the column. If the split vent is closed
via a computer-controlled split valve, then all of the sample introduced into the injector
vaporizes and goes into the column then it is called as splitless mode. But, if the split vent
is open then most of the vaporized sample is thrown away to waste via the split vent and
only a small portion of the sample is introduced into the column, the it is called as split
mode.

Temperature controlled device: For vaporization of sample to occur, there may be the use of
repeaters or thermostatically controlled oven. A repeater is used to convert the samples into
vapour form and mix with mobile phase, while a thermostatically controlled oven is used since
partition coefficient as well as solubility of a solute depends upon temperature, temperature
mainlining in a coloumn is highly necessitated for efficient separation. There are two types of
thermal programming in the GLC system; namely isothermal programming and linear
programming.

The separation column: The heart of the gas chromatography is the column which is made of
glass or metals bent in U shape or coiled into an open spiral or a flat pancake shape. Copper is
useful up to 250. Swagelok type fittings2 make column insertion easy. Several sizes of columns
are used depending upon the requirements. The column used in the GLC system may be of
different types. The classification of separation column is following;

− Classification of coloumn on the basis of their use: It is of two types;

o Analytical column: These columns are meant for qualitative analyses. The eluents
from the analytical column may not have to be collected.

2
Swagelok type fitting is a type of metal tube connection or fittings which make the fitting leak-tight, gas-tight seal
in an easy-to-install, disassemble and reassemble form.

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 o Preparative column: These columns are meant for isolating compounds from
natural extracts. It is meant for purifying compounds at a large scale, such as
milligram or gram.

− Classification of columns on the basis of its nature: Based on nature of columns, it is of

three kinds, which are;

o Packed column: These are available in packed manner commercially and hence
they are called as packed column. Different columns ranging from nonplolar to
polar are available today.
o Open tubular/capillary column: They are made up of stainless steel and are in the
form of a coil of long capillary of tubing of 30 – 90 meter in length with diameter
of 0.025 to 0.075cm. The inner wall of the capillary is coated with stationary
phase liquid in the form of a thin film. More samples in this column cannot be
loaded.
o Support coated open tubular column: These columns are made by depositing a
micron size layer of support material on the inner wall of the capillary column and
then coated with a thin film of liquid phase. These columns also have low
resistance to flow of carrier gas but offer the advantage of more sample load or
capacity.

Detectors: These are most important part of GLC instrument. A good detector should have the
quality of applicability to wide range of sample, high sensitivity to even small concentration,
rapidity of response, linearity, nondestructive to sample, simple and easy to maintain. There are
mainly three types of detectors, thermal conductivity detector, flame ionization detector, electron
capture detector.

Thermal conductivity detector (TCD): The principle of TCD is based upon the thermal
conductivity difference between carrier gas and sample components. TCD has two platinum wire
of uniform dimension which form a Wheatstone bridge3.

3
Wheatstone bridge is a simple circuit for measuring an unknown resistance by connecting it so as to form a
quadrilateral with three known resistances and applying a voltage between a pair of opposite corners.

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Flame ionization detector (FID): In tis detector, carrier gas used is hydrogen. The detector has
inlets for hydrogen and air or oxygen to burn the hydrogen and the effluent gas from the
chromatograph. Hydrogen emerges through a hollow needle and is burnt as it emerges giving a
colourless flame. The effluent gas is mixed with hydrogen.

Electron capture detector (ECD): It is a basically a modification of the ionization chamber used
for detection of radiations. This type of detector has two electrodes. One of the electrodes is
treated with a radioactive isotope which emit electron as it decays (anode). The effluent from the
chromatographic column is exposed to slow electrons generated by the ionization of the carrier
gas, which is either argon or nitrogen, by a constant flux of beta rays from a radioisotope.

Recorder: It is used to record the responses obtained from detector after amplification. They
record the baseline and all the peaks obtained with respect to time.

Liquid phases: An infinite variety of liquid phases are available limited only by their volatility,
thermal stability and ability to wet the support. No single phase will serve for all separation
problems at all temperatures. The liquid phase may be of following types;

− Nonpolar: Parafin, squalane, silicone greases, apiezon L, silicone gum rubber. These
materials separate the components in order of their boiling points.
− Intermediate polarity: These materials contain a polar or polarizable group on a long
nonpolar skeleton which can dissolve both polar and nonpolar solutes, for example
diethyl hexyl phthalate is used for the separation of high boiling alcohols.
− Polar: Liquid phases with a large proportion of polar groups, such as carbowaxes.
− Hydrogen bonding: Polar liquid phases with high hydrogen bonding e.g. glycol.
− Specific purpose phases: Relying on a chemical reaction with solute to achieve
separations. e.g AgNO3 in glycol separates unsaturated hydrocarbons.

Procedure

Gas liquid chromatography or GLC is a type of chromatographic technique which involves

multistep process. These processes are as follows;

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Step 1: Sample injection and vaporization

1. A small amount of liquid sample to be analyzed is drawn up into a syringe.

2. The syringe needle is positioned in the hot injection port of the gas chromatograph and
the sample is injected quickly.
3. The injection of the sample is considered to be a “point” in time, that is, it is assumed that
the entire sample enters the gas chromatograph at the same time, so the sample must be
injected quickly.
4. The temperature is set to be higher than the boiling points of the components of the
mixture so that the components will vaporize.
5. The vaporized components then mix with the inert gas mobile phase to be carried to the
gas chromatography column to be separated.

Step 2: Separation in the Column

1. Components in the mixture are separated based on their abilities to adsorb on or bind to,
the stationary phase.
2. A component that adsorbs most strongly to the stationary phase will spend the most time
in the column (will be retained in the column for the longest time) and will, therefore,
have the longest retention time (Rt). It will emerge from the gas chromatograph last.
3. A component that adsorbs the least strongly to the stationary phase will spend the least
time in the column (will be retained in the column for the shortest time) and will,
therefore, have the shortest retention time (Rt). It will emerge from the gas
chromatograph first.
4. If we consider a 2 component mixture in which component A is more polar than
component B then:

− component A will have a longer retention time in a polar column than

component B
− component A will have a shorter retention time in a non-polar column than
component B

Step 3: Detecting and Recording Results

1. The components of the mixture reach the detector at different times due to differences in
the time they are retained in the column.
2. The component that is retained the shortest time in the column is detected first. The
component that is retained the longest time in the column is detected last.
3. The detector sends a signal to the chart recorder which results in a peak on the chart
paper. The component that is detected first is recorded first. The component that is
detected last is recorded last.

Applications of GLC

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 1. GC analysis is used to calculate the content of a chemical product, for example in
assuring the quality of products in the chemical industry; or measuring toxic substances
in soil, air or water.
2. Gas chromatography is used in the analysis of:

− air-borne pollutants
− performance-enhancing drugs in athlete’s urine samples
− oil spills
− essential oils in perfume preparation

3. GC is very accurate if used properly and can measure picomoles of a substance in a 1ml
liquid sample, or parts-per-billion concentrations in gaseous samples.

Advantages of GLC

− The use of longer columns and higher velocity of carrier gas permits the fast separation in
a matter of a few minutes.
− Higher working temperatures up to 500C and the possibility of converting any material
into a volatile component make gas chromatography one of the most versatile techniques.
− GC is popular for environmental monitoring and industrial applications because it is very
reliable and can be run nearly continuously.
− GC is typically used in applications where small, volatile molecules are detected and with
non-aqueous solutions.
− GC is favored for non-polar molecules.
− Gas Chromatography is used extensively in forensic science. Disciplines as diverse as
solid drug dose (pre-consumption form) identification and quantification, arson
investigation, paint chip analysis, and toxicology cases, employ GC to identify and
quantify various biological specimens and crime-scene evidence.

Limitations of GLC

− Compound to be analyzed should be stable under GC operation conditions.

− They should have a vapor pressure significantly greater than zero.
− Typically, the compounds analyzed are less than 1,000 Da, because it is difficult to
vaporize larger compounds.
− The samples are also required to be salt-free; they should not contain ions.
− Very minute amounts of a substance can be measured, but it is often required that the
sample must be measured in comparison to a sample containing the pure, suspected
substance known as a reference standard.

References

4. Pomeranz Y., Meloan C.E. (1994) Gas—Liquid Chromatography. In: Food Analysis.
Springer, Boston, MA.
5. https://www.chemguide.co.uk/analysis/chromatography/gas.html
6. https://microbenotes.com/gas-chromatography/

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 7. http://www.4college.co.uk/a/Cd/Glc.php
8. https://www.technologynetworks.com/analysis/articles/gas-chromatography-how-a-
gas-chromatography-machine-works-how-to-read-a-chromatograph-and-gcxgc-
335168
9. https://www.slideshare.net/himanshusachdeva21/gas-chromatography-and-gcms

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