Chromatography Forum

We're going through a spring cleaning of sorts and will be getting rid of 100+ HPLC columns that are 10+ years old. Anyone have any ideas on how to make the most use out of these columns we're going to get rid of (e.g. recycle stainless steel, send back to manufacturer, or just throw 'em away...)?

Speaking as a column manufacturer:
Pitch 'em. First of all, when one swages on an end fitting, the radial compression bulges out the frit sideways with such force that it distorts the end fitting (creating the leaktight seal in the process). That distortion is permanent, meaning that you'd have to seal it even tighter the next time to avoid having a gap between the side of the frit and the wall of the end fitting. The same may be true of the tube depending on how thick the wall is and what pressure was used during packing. Second, the cost of the components to a manufacturer is cheaper than the amount of labor and solvents necessary to clean them out thoroughly enough to make them reusable, and there's also the possibility of scoring the inner walls of the tube during packing or unpacking and cleaning. No reputable manufacturer reuses column components. Any company that offered a discount if you sent in a used column when buying a new one was just using that as a marketing ploy to get repeat business; the used column went into the trash.

Or find a local college who can use them for educational purposes.

I also recommend donating them but first check with the proper folks at your company to make sure they don't have a policy against this practice. I tried to donate some old columns to a local college when I worked in the Philadelphia area and my department supervisor first made me test each column to ensure there were no traces of our proprietary drug substances on them. I only had a dozen or so to test, so it wasn't that laborious; had I 100+ to donate/test I would have just trashed them instead.

There are scores of government and University laboratories in Africa and Asia where a decent second hand column would be very appreciated.

Thanks for the replies! And thanks for that insight, Andy! I guess it's between chunk'n 'em and donation.

(1) ... by all means, if they're decent, donate them. But you're not doing anyone a favour if you give them a column that is no longer capable of producing publishable results...

(2) Blazer, please let me know who your supervisor was afraid of. If I can find a lab who can identify structurally a novel compound from a trace left on a column, I will be so happy.