This year's conference attendance was up significantly from last year's meeting in Orlando, Florida, which is the same trend
seen in previous years. Each time the conference has moved north, attendance has gone up compared to the year before. Still,
the size of the exhibition was noticeably smaller. This did not detract from the quality of convention floor encounters. If
anything, it made the whole affair more intense. Again, as in previous years, conference papers and posters were strong contributors
to the technical content and remain a major attendee draw.
Gas Chromatography Product Introductions
This year, Pittcon saw a larger number of new gas chromatography (GC) instrument introductions than at any previous Pittcon
that I can recall. These new GC systems share several common characteristics: they are faster, easier to maintain, and easier
to use than their predecessors. This reflects the ongoing trend toward getting more out of each instrument to reduce cost
of ownership while at the same time holding the line or even improving reliability and results quality. At the same time,
most of the new instruments can include mass spectrometry (MS) detectors as standard line items that are almost plug-and-play
devices. Many also have available multidimensional options that span a range of capabilities from simple column or detector
maintenance options, through backflushing or heart-cutting operations, all the way to cutting-edge comprehensive GC×GC capabilities.
Beyond new instruments, the rest of the new product field was dominated by sampling systems and accessories, followed by other
items such as flow controllers or filters. Overall, the GC market is healthy and still growing. Although some of the new instruments
were shown at other conferences earlier in the year, Pittcon remains the premier venue for GC products.
Table I: New GC instruments
This annual installment of "GC Connections" reviews new GC instrumentation and accessories shown at this year's Pittcon; some
of the entries were introduced earlier in 2006. For a review of new chromatography columns and accessories, please see "Column
Watch" in the March and April 2007 issues of LCGC North America (1,2). The information presented here is based upon manufacturers' replies to questionnaires received up until a few weeks
before the conference, as well as on additional information from manufacturers' press releases, websites, and product literature.
During the conference, I took time to walk around the convention aisles and see some of the new products firsthand as well
as discover a number of items that were not covered by the questionnaires. Every effort has been made to collect accurate
information, but due to the preliminary nature of some of the material, LCGC cannot be responsible for errors or omissions. This article cannot be considered to be a complete record of all new GC products
shown at this year's Pittcon, because not all manufacturers chose to respond to the questionnaire, nor is all of the submitted
information included here due to the limited available space and the editor's judgment as to the suitability.
Instrument Systems
The number of new instruments this year is remarkable, considering the mature state of GC. As the list in Table I shows, GC
is alive and going strong. The various companies introduced laboratory-sized, miniaturized, and micro instruments. Faster
sample throughput, improved reliability, and ease-of-use are common themes among the laboratory instruments, while the smaller
miniaturized models feature application-specific capabilities.
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