It is no secret that laboratory instrumentation, especially when the cost is in the six or even seven figures, needs to be properly vetted by a team of employees. When adopting a new method, or changing an existing procedure, chemists need to ensure that their samples will be successfully analyzed by the instrumentation ahead of making such a large investment.
Ahead of Lab Innovations, the United Kingdom's largest laboratory equipment show, Organomation and distributor Green Leaf Scientific visited Agilent's LDA UK Headquarters. In an effort to provide excellent pre and post sales support, the laboratory in Cheadle, Chesire, close to Manchester, England, serves as a critical hub for video demonstrations, remote diagnostics and specialized troubleshooting. A regular component of the demonstration is getting on a video call with the customer and showing them how their samples can be analyzed accurately and efficiently on a GC-MS, for instance.
Previously, Agilent requested that laboratories send "ready to run" samples which could be immediately placed in the LC-MS, for example. More recently, the laboratory has acquired several key sample preparation instruments. Their primary tool for removing excess solvent from small volume samples is the MULTIVAP batch evaporator. Most commonly, technicians are concentrating food matrices in 2 mL Eppendorf tubes ahead of analysis on the triple quadrupole LC-MS (TQMS or QqQ for short).
As one might guess, these state of the art mass specs are more specialized and configured differently than standard spectrometers. If a laboratory is looking for more detailed information related to the structure of their sample, upgrading a unit with three quadrupoles, rather than standard units which only have one mass analyzer, could be in order. 
Unlike other nitrogen evaporators which look to prepare large batches of samples, Organomation customizes the sample holder which comes with the high temperature, waterless model, for an optimal fit. This is made possible by the laboratory sending in a sample of their vial or providing measurements. Vials need a secure fit to ensure the best possible heat transfer in an effort to speed the evaporation of excess solvent.
One of the drawbacks of other parallel sample concentrators is that for each sample size a laboratory desires to place in the evaporator, a whole new sample rack needs to be acquired and stored. Commonly, the sample holder of the high temperature MULTIVAP can utilize small inserts which can be easily installed in the holder (sample holder blocks and inserts shown above). This approach can boost the versatility of the evaporator while requiring a minimal amount of additional storage space.
Proper sample preparation, which allows analysis to be successful, has been Organomation's focus for almost 65 years. While the company's evaporators are used in a wide variety of critical research laboratories, Organomation takes pride in the leading mass spec manufacturers trusting us with their sample concentration.
If the leading mass spectrometer manufacturer trusts Organomation to dry down samples ahead of their chromatography and spectrometry, shouldn't you?