Liquid Chromatograph Gradient Profile Automation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Setting gradient profiles in conventional liquid chromatographs is cumbersome and labor-intensive, especially when performing multiple gradient analyses with different profiles, requiring users to manually enter time values and mobile phase compositions.
Innovation Solution
A liquid chromatograph control system with a mixture ratio entry section, change entry section, gradient profile creating section, and control section that allows users to easily set and manage gradient profiles, reducing manual input and automating the process of creating and applying multiple gradient profiles.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If multiple gradient profiles are manually set for method scouting, then analysis conditions can be varied, but the time and labor required for setting increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-generates multiple gradient profiles based on a single base profile and automatically assigns them to schedule table entries. This preliminary preparation eliminates the need for manual setting of each gradient profile during method scouting, significantly reducing the time and labor required while maintaining the ability to vary analysis conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates multiple gradient profiles by copying and modifying a base gradient profile. Instead of manually creating each unique gradient profile, the system automatically generates variations by applying different modification rules to the base profile, enabling efficient exploration of multiple analysis conditions.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple gradient profiles are manually set for method scouting, then analysis conditions can be varied, but the operational complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The gradient profile management system serves multiple functions: it generates profiles, modifies them according to rules, assigns them to schedules, and manages their storage. This universal system handles all gradient profile-related operations through a unified interface, reducing operational complexity while enabling varied analysis conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The system automatically generates and assigns gradient profiles without requiring manual intervention. The gradient profile management unit self-services by retrieving base profiles, generating variations, and assigning them to appropriate schedule entries, thereby simplifying the user's operational burden.
3Quantity of substance
If many data files are created from multiple analyses, then comprehensive results are obtained, but identifying analysis conditions for each file becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The system provides feedback by automatically naming data files with information about the gradient profile used. This feedback mechanism ensures that users can easily identify the analysis conditions for each data file by examining its name, preventing information loss despite the large number of files generated.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses distinctive naming conventions that visually encode analysis conditions in file names. This allows users to quickly distinguish between different analysis conditions without opening each file, effectively managing information about numerous data files.
Data Source
AI summary
A liquid chromatograph control system for controlling an operation of a liquid chromatograph which uses a mobile phase composed of a mixture of solvents and which has the function of performing a gradient analysis while temporally changing the mixture ratio of the solvents. The system initially requests a user to set a basic gradient profile (Step S12), and subsequently, to set the number of steps to change the mixture ratio of the mobile phase at the beginning and/or at the end of the gradient process as well as the amount of change in the mixture ratio per step (Step S13). After that, based on the possible combinations of the mixture ratios of the mobile phase at the beginning and at the end of the gradient process computed from the contents of information entered in the previous steps, a plurality of gradient profiles corresponding to those combinations are created (Step S14).