Several new Shimadzu instruments were introduced at the first day of Pittcon 2024 in San Diego and R&D World was there for it. Among the company’s latest laboratory offerings are the high-performance Brevis GC-2050 gas chromatograph system and the GCMS-QP2050 single quad gas chromatograph mass spectrometer.

“The Brevis GC-2050 is our newest GC instrument and is a complete redesign overhaul from our existing product line,” said Alan Owens, the GC and GCMS product specialist at Shimadzu Scientific Instruments. “Our major focus for this product was to minimize the size as you can see in the tagline, ‘small but mighty.’ So we’ve decreased the footprint by about 30%, 35% compared with other competitors making this an excellent instrument for labs that are decreasing in size or keeping the same size but have an increase in workload.”

The compact, high-performance Brevis GC-2050 system includes insulating materials and a smaller oven to reduce the thermal capacity and thoroughly eliminate heat loss to reduce power, consuming 30% less than conventional models, minimizing helium gas use, and supporting alternative carrier gasses. Operators can achieve further gas savings by using the optional gas selector to automatically switch the gases from helium to an alternative gas such as hydrogen or nitrogen.

In addition to its compact design, the system offers a choice of sample introduction units and detectors, allowing the use of commercial columns. Detectors available include FID detector, FPD detector, and ECD detector. Moreover, users can select power specifications from 100 V 15 Amp to 230 V specifications, allowing flexibility in adapting environments. LabSolutions Direct, a standard feature of the LabSolutions software platform, enables users to monitor instrument status and chromatographic signals, start and stop the instrument, and begin analysis from a web browser on a PC or smart device at a remote office or home.

“The QP 2050 is our brand-new single quad that we launched back in January, carrying along with the same idea behind Brevis GC-2050. We shrunk the footprint of the single bottom aspect, sitting at only about two feet in width. This instrument pairs perfectly with our GC 2050 and GC 2030 for the ultra-compact system for both GC and GCMS on top of that we’ve completely redesigned our iron source and detector assembly,” said Owens.

Powered by advanced automated technology in a compact footprint, the GCMS-QP2050 single quad gas chromatograph mass spectrometer features exceptional reliability, sensitivity, stability, and speed in an easy-to-use system. The system features the new DuraEase ion source, which reduces downtime by enabling maintenance in only one minute. Additional features include a long-life filament (which lasts about five times longer than standard filaments), high-speed scanning (30,000 AMU/second), and an interface redesigned for optimized temperature distribution and to suppress or remove the adsorption of high boiling compounds or analytes. In addition, the GCMS-QP2050 is alternative carrier gas ready out-of-the-box as all stainless-steel internal plumbing allows for immediate hydrogen connection.

“What’s most interesting about our GP 2015 as well as on the software side we are now incorporating the GCMS in the lab solutions software lineup. This is one of the biggest achievements and we’ve been asking for this for a long time. Because now most if not all our analytical instruments fit underneath the lab solutions product line, we are left with lab solutions. On top of this QP2015 is the first ever detector-only option for Shimadzu.”