Chromatography Forum

I've been looking into equipment for packing analytical HPLC/UPLC columns (4.6 to 2.1 mm in diameter), but can't seem to find any information about the equipment used for packing these columns. Most of the information out there, and there is a lot of it, seems to be for very large preparative columns, but I can't find anything beyond the small portable Restek model for packing HPLC/UPLC columns. Specifically, I'm trying to find more information about the systems that a commercial company (Phenomenex, Waters, Agilent, etc.) would use for packing large numbers of them, and with high reproducibility.

Anyone know of a place to look for this information?

Thanks.

more information about the systems that a commercial company (Phenomenex, Waters, Agilent, etc.) would use for packing large numbers of them, and with high reproducibility.

They make their own and (for obvious reasons) are probably not going to publish the details.

I'm surprised, but good to know, thanks. So there is nothing available for a start-up to use except to have their own packing instrument(s) custom built?

It's not like there are thousands of people who would want to pack their own columns and would thus justify selling a turnkey system. Plus, it's not hard to put together a packer if you know what you're doing -- and if you don't, you shouldn't be in the business anyway.

A friend of mine who *is* in that business quips that he has a sure-fire way to make a small fortune packing columns --

-- just start with a large fortune and work your way down.

Even if you would pack the columns with a very high reproducibility, you will pack it different to the original manufacturer. And that alone will cause big Problems with FDA if you are working in pharmaceutical industry. Problems for you!
You can buy a pneumatic pump, ask somebody to manufacture the Adapters for your column Hardware and than start to do packing columns.
After 1000 well packed columns you might think that you can be satisfied. Than try to pack columns with a different packing material. And where you will buy the bulk packing material??????? I will definitively not sell 1 single milligram of bulk packing material for repacking purposes. Not for analytical columns.
Good luck.

You need few things to build your system:
1. empty columns
2. reservoir for the slurry - 20 ml for 4.6 mm columns should be good enough), for 2.1 mm column you might want to have 10 ml. You can use old prep columns to serve as reservoir or you can buy it the whole set up
2. adapter to connect you column to slurry reservoir. You can stay with Swagelok type )compression ring) columns and it will be most economical. You prefer that your adapters don't have a narrower pass than your column.
3. Haskel pump to pack columns (or any other pump capable to provide 10-20 ml/min with high back pressure)/ Ebay has few of them: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Haskel-Hydrauli ... 58aa3c8687. You need a version which is resistant to corrosion.
4. reservoir for solvents (pushers)
5. Need some knowledge of mechanical and chemical properties of material you are trying to pack Compatibility with solvents, high pressure mechanical stability, etc.(
6. Need to do some experiments with different compositions of slurry/pushers.
7. Air Compressor.

Alternatively you can use regular preparative HPLC pump instead of Haskel/air compressor combination, but Haskel is the best from my 10 years experience of packing columns

the whole system will cost you less than $500 (if you use ebay and old hardware to build your system). More advanced system will cost close to $2,000

Let me know if you have questions

You will find procedures are all over place in, eg., Anal Chem and other peer reviewed journals and patents.

But it's still somewhat of an art form.

Tom's quote- classic!

After doing this for 11 years, packing closer to 100K columns with 40-50 different phases, I pretty much disagree that it is an "art form". If you know surface chemistry and properties, after couple of months you can figure out how to do this routinely.

Aside, how automated is packing these days?

our column assembly is semi automated, powered by air-driven press which assembles columns

...and we use manifolds that cost us about $ 20,000 each. Of course, we and Vlad have invested in expensive equipment for commercial production. For packing columns one at a time, I strongly support DJ's suggestion to go to the literature (Analytical Chemistry; Journal of Chromatography) and look up papers on the subject as far back as 1980.