DWI Attorney Chuck Ramsay to Attend Gas Chromatography Course

Posted On April 15, 2009 by Charles Ramsay

I really want to know more than the state's experts so that I do the best job possible for my clients. With greater knowledge, I am able to cross examine the Minnesota BCA lab scientists much more effectively.

In DWI cases, Blood and Urine alcohol testing is performed by a technique called "gas chromatography (GC).| To better understand GC analysis, the American Chemical Society (ACS) has short course (5 days with hands-on laboratory experience) on GC analysis, entitled, |Gas Chromatography: Fundamentals, Troubleshooting, and Method Development (A lecture-laboratory course).|

I will be attending this course in November, 2009.

Overview

This course is designed for beginners and intermediate-level practitioners who want practical laboratory experience in gas chromatography (GC). The lecturesâ??supplemented by problem sets, slides, and video presentationsâ??provide the fundamentals needed to understand the technique and instrumentation involved in this powerful analytical tool. At the end of the class, you will have mastered the fundamentals of GC, participated in five hands-on laboratory sessions, performed reference and literature searches, and learned specialized techniques based on your specific interests.

Agenda

Day 1: GC Overview -- introduction to GC; GC instrumentation overview; practical GC theory: packed & Capillary; laboratory: GC Familiarization.

Day 2: Injection Techniques & Quantitative Analysis -- overview of sample introduction techniques; capillary inlet systems: split, splitless, on-column, large volume injectors; qualitative and quantitative analysis; laboratories: comparing injection techniques, troubleshooting injector problems, internal vs. external standard techniques.

Day 3: Columns -- packed column overview; capillary column technology; temperature programming; laboratories: column dimension and phase selection, laboratory: fast GC.

Day 4: Detectors -- overview of available detectors; details of FID & TCD; GC/MS; laboratories: GC detector operation, troubleshooting FID and TCD.

Day 5: Method Development & Temperature Programming -- temperature programming; fundamentals of method development; laboratory: develop a method for a completely unknown mixture.

With the knowledge and laboratory experience from this course, I will be Minnesota's lab expert's worse nightmare.