A Standard Workflow and Troubleshooting Process to Maintain and Troubleshoot the Flow Paths of Intuvo and Conventional GCs

QC test mixes (probes) serve a dynamic purpose in ensuring the inertness, reproducibility, and functionality of a specific GC or GCMS method. The test mix chemistry of individual compounds to make up such a probe can vary widely depending on the column chemistry, detector selectivity, and method acquisition parameters.

The presentation focuses on what constitutes a good QC test mix, what data (test mix) features to review, the steps to maintain data quality, and what to do when data quality decreases or fails the customer’s QC guidelines. Issues such as, when to change your liner, gold seal, guard chip, and column maintenance will be discussed. The test probe mix utilized in the presentation will be the DB-5MS column test mix as an example of analytes with active functional groups to adequately exercise the flow path and the DB-5MS column’s analytical state. This webinar will be presented from a forensic drug chemistry point of view but will be applicable to most GC or GCMS applications and sample matrices.

Presenter: Kirk Lokits, PhD (GC/MS Applications Scientist, Agilent Technologies, Inc.)

Kirk received his B.S. in Forensic Science and Chemistry from Eastern Kentucky University and began working as a Forensic Drug Chemist in the Miami Valley Regional Crime Laboratory in Dayton, Ohio. He then moved to Orlando, Florida where he worked as a Forensic Toxicologist for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement in the Orlando Regional Crime Laboratory and later as a Crime Analyst Supervisor in the Pensacola Regional Crime Laboratory. Kirk left the forensic realm and began his tenure with Hewlett Packard/Agilent Technologies, working as a Customer Service Engineer (CE) supporting the LC, GC, LCMS, GCMS, and ICPMS products. While working for HP Kirk earned his M.S. in Analytical Chemistry from Middle Tennessee State University and in 2005 Kirk left Agilent Technologies to attend the University of Cincinnati to earn his Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry. After receiving his Ph.D., Kirk worked for the Midwest Research Institute (MRI) in Kansas City, MO where he worked as a Principal Chemist and Sr. Program Manager on Department of Defense projects, staffing, designing, and building remote laboratories for placement throughout the world. In 2014, Kirk re-joined Agilent Technologies as a GCMS Applications Scientist focusing on forensic applications.