Date: June 2002
Recent surveys of HPLC users have indicated that many are wasting thousands of dollars, which could be better spent, because they are not making the most of cost cutting measures available to them.
For example, did you know that the cost of mobile phase for a standard (24hr or less) HPLC run is about $35 ? (includes preparation time and materials, waste disposal costs etc ). It is not unusual for 2.5 litres of mobile phase to be prepared for such a run, all of which ends up as solvent waste.
Solvent Savers can cut these costs to as little as $10 per run, which represents a yearly saving of $5000! These accessories for HPLC are designed to minimize the cost of single solvent usage by discarding contaminated mobile phase and returning clean phase to the reservoir for reuse.
The initial purchase cost of a solvent saver can quickly be recovered, as there are a number of secondary benefits associated with their use. For example, instrument wear caused by running out of solvent on overnight runs in particular can be significantly reduced. This increases the life of HPLC pump seals and sapphire rod pistons, which are damaged by dried buffer crystals being rubbed along their surfaces.
Out of Specification issues can easily be investigated without the need to remix mobile phase as there is plenty left from the original run to deal with these.
Environmentally of course, the benefit of reducing toxic waste disposal is well documented, and is something we should all be aiming towards.
