Chromatography Research Supplies have over 25 years of experience manufacturing high-quality analytical consumables. They are a leading manufacturer of electronic and manual crimping tools, gas filters, ferrules, injection port septa, and more recently, well plates and sealing mats. Their products are used in analytical laboratories and various other industries worldwide, where they are known for quality, ease of use and high levels of support.

CRS was recently acquired by Trajan Scientific and Medical. The acquisition of CRS is highly complementary to Trajan’s product portfolio in the analytical workflow and consolidates Trajan’s current market-leading position in gas chromatography sample introduction. CRS brings a strong development and production engineering team, exceptional customer service and quality offering that Trajan looks to leverage across other operational centers. Equally Trajan sees growth opportunities for the CRS range as part of its larger scale global team.

PRODUCTS

They manufacture a popular line of standard gas filters at CRS. They also custom design and build gas filters for special applications. Special requests have included the following:

• Special combinations of adsorbents to deliver required output purity levels over a range of flow rates
• Special fittings or connections for quick-connect, for push-on tube connectors, VCR fittings, or non-standard compression fittings
• Special sizes or end treatments
• CRS proprietary products include highly sensitive moisture and O₂ indicators as well as very-high capacity O₂ adsorbents
• CRS uses cobalt-free indicating moisture adsorbents for gas line dryers, both for high-flow low ppm applications and also to meet medium flow ppb highly demanding requirements. These adsorbents meet European requirements under REACH.

Depending on the detailed requirements, special designs and labeling can be managed for as few as 250-500 filters per year, or less if the deviations from standard products are minor.

Their gas filter products have been used in various industries such as the petroleum industry for standards in hydrocarbon type test methods, the laser and optics industry and medical industries to provide extremely clean, dry gas in critical applications. Many filters are used for additional clean up of output from gas generators, to provide clean gas for high quality welding applications, and most recently we are making arrangements to provide solutions to the semiconductor industry.

They manufacture a wide variety of standard and special ferrules and seals used in gas chromatographs and other instruments. The commonly used materials are Vespel, PTFE, and exfoliated graphite.

Engineers at CRS Trajan Louisville are able to take special design requirements for precision ferrules, including applications requiring high temperature and ultra-clean environments, and provide design input, samples and finished product.

The standard GC ferrule product line is used to seal tubing and capillaries to standard compression fittings in a variety of sizes. They frequently manage requests for similar special applications. General material selection guidelines can be drawn from the standard product line outlined below.

Useful design data can be found for Vespel products at Dupont Design Guides (see especially the “S” grades), and for PTFE at Chemours PTFE Specification.

They provides a wide range of GC ferrules made from Vespel®, Vespel/Graphite, Graphite and PTFE.

CRS has developed unique technologies in the course of developing injection port septa for gas chromatographs. This particular application is characterized by:

• Very high temperatures of operation – to the limit of the material specification
• Exceedingly tight requirements for low emission of volatile and liquid components
• A surface that needs to be resistant to sticking

They can assist in material selection, tool design, and product qualification for elastomeric products that require high levels of cleanliness, both superficially and chemically, or that require specially engineered surfaces. Often dramatic improvements in product performance can be obtained by applying CRS processes to existing seals or O-rings without reformulation.

Plasma Coating

• All Injection port septa are ran through a plasma coating process for a non-stick surface
• Easy to change, even after high-temperature use up to 400°C
• Non-stick surface stays clean and does not attract dust.

CRS designs and manufactures an assortment of manual and electronic crimping tools to meet the diverse array of laboratory crimping and decapping applications. Their commitment to quality and consistency in manufacturing all of their crimping tools, translates to more efficient sampling and less down time for end users due to damaged vials or loose seals.

CRS Crimping Tool Product Lines:

High-throughput, automated laboratory workflows demand the highest quality consumables to reduce instrument downtime and minimize the need for repeat analyses. CRS Pure-Pass Well Plates and Sealing Mats are designed and manufactured to stringent quality standards to minimize contaminants that can affect assay results and also for dimensional compliance with ANSI/SLAS ensure compatibility with a wide range of automated equipment.

Minimize Contaminants of Sample Vessels! 

Contamination of samples by leachables in sample containers happens! But this is not always stated clearly by manufacturers or recognized by end users. These leachable contaminants originate not only in the raw materials but may also be introduced during manufacturing, or even packaging. Another common assumption is that sample contamination can only occur after extended sample storage, or that it happens only with very strong solvents.

To be clear, CRS Pure-Pass plates sealing mats are not extractable free, but their selection of raw materials, methods of manufacture, and commitment to testing the finished, packaged product ensures that contaminant levels in Pure-Pass products are amongst the lowest in the industry.

Pure-Pass Polypropylene Well Plates

CRS Pure-pass well plates are manufactured from a high clarity, high purity polypropylene copolymer with extremely low levels of volatiles and extractables, molded in a cleanroom and lot tested after final packaging. The result is clear with a low extractable profile in common solvents like methanol and acetonitrile. Although extractables profile can appear very similar using a mild polar solvent like methanol, extraction with a less polar solvent like ethyl acetate illustrates more clearly the reduced potential leachables in CRS Pure-Pass Well Plates.

Pure-Pass Glass Coated Well Plates

CRS Pure-Pass glass coated well plates are manufactured from the same high-quality polypropylene with a glass barrier coating that is applied in an environmentally friendly process. The glass barrier eliminates sample contact with the polypropylene substrate and offers a cost-effective replacement for expensive glass vials and inserts that are used for some applications. The barrier is resistant to solvents which do not swell polypropylene and can be used from -80°C to +80°C. The glass coating also offers a more hydrophilic surface compared to the polypropylene surface, and this altered wetting may reduce adsorption for some types of biomolecules.

Pure-Pass Silicone Sealing Mats

CRS Pure-Pass Sealing Mats protect wells from leaks, contamination, and evaporation during sampling and storage. Pure-Pass Sealing Mats are available in clean room molded EVA and a specially processed low bleed, low-extractable silicone to reduce the risk of sample contamination. A plasma coating is also available to reduce sticking for the silicone mats and pre-slit versions for easier piercing and sample withdrawal.
All Mats are for 96 well plates with 7mm diameter wells. Excellent dimensional conformance with ANSI/SLAS ensures enhanced registration with the plate for ease of application. Each mat has an alphanumeric grid reference.

EVA Mats:

CRS Pure-Pass sealing mats are made from a high purity ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer. They are intended as a cost-effective solution for single use applications.