System for Liquid Chromatograph with Compressibility and Viscosity Monitoring to Identify Fluids

Abstract

A system for providing a solvent or reagent to a liquid chromatography system comprises: a valve comprising a common port and a plurality of other ports, configurable such that the common port may be fluidically coupled to any one of the other ports; a pump fluidically coupled to the common port of the valve; a plugged first one of the other ports; a container containing the solvent or reagent, said container fluidically coupled to a second one of the other ports; a fluid tubing line having a known resistance to fluid flow fluidically coupled to a third one of the other ports; and a pressure gauge configured to measure fluid pressure within the pump, wherein the solvent or reagent is provided to the liquid chromatography system by a fourth one of the other ports.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application is a Divisional of and claims the right of priority to co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 13 / 881,886, titled “Method and System for Liquid Chromatograph with Compressibility and Viscosity Monitoring to Identify Fluids” which is the United States National Stage Application, under 35 U.S.C. §371, of International Application PCT / US2011 / 058230 having an international filing date of Oct. 28, 2011, which claims the benefit of the filing date, under 35 U.S.C. §119(e), of U.S. Provisional Application 61 / 408,046, filed on Oct. 29, 2010, the disclosures of all of the above-referenced applications incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.TECHNICAL FIELD[0002]This invention generally relates to chromatography, and more particularly to an automated apparatus and method for monitoring the correctness of the installation and placement of solvents, mobile phases or other reagents within a chromatograph instrument or system.B...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The system effectively reduces operator errors by ensuring the correct solvents or reagents are used, maintaining pump integrity, and providing real-time alerts for potential issues, thereby enhancing the reliability and accuracy of chromatographic analyses.

Problems solved by technology

Since many such solvents or reagents present known health hazards or are flammable, the reagent rack is generally designed to be closed during normal operation and to only be accessed by an operator or technician at such times that one or more solvents or reagents need to be replaced, having been depleted over the course of operation of the instrument or system.

Many opportunities for operator error will occur over the course of the multiple handlings of the transfer vessel or, occasionally, even a manufacturer's original container.

For instance, a temporary label may be lost and replaced with an incorrect label.

Even if the label is correct, the operator may transfer the wrong material into the transfer vessel.

Even if the label and material are correct, the operator may mis-place the vessel within a reagent rack or compartment.

This may lead to incorrect or poor-quality results, necessitating repetition of many faulty analyses.

In a worst-case scenario, the error may never be discovered, and inappropriate actions may be taken—such as an incorrect treatment for a patient—based on the incorrect analytical results.

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