Instruction 28-9920-23 AD
GE Healthcare Life Sciences
Columns XK 16, XK 26, XK 50
Packing Rervoirs RK 16/26, RK 50
XK columns are designed for standard liquid chromatography of macromolecules. They are available in the following dimensions:XK adaptors are ud with XK columns. The columns come with one adaptor and one bottom piece. A larger range of bed heights can be obtained by fitting an additional adaptor at the bottom of the column (Table 2 on page 4).
Opening the box
XK columns are delivered complete with a thermostatic jacket, one adaptor, one bottom piece and tubing at both ends for direct connection to valves and pumps. Unpack the XK column and the adaptor carefully. Check the contents of the delivery package against
the packing list supplied. Inspect for any missing components or
damage that may have occurred during transport. Report any
damage immediately to the local GE Healthcare reprentative and to the transport company concerned.
Description of main parts
The main parts of the column are shown in Figure 1. For a detailed view of the column parts, e the exploded view, Figure 5 on page 5.Glass tube (5). The high-precision borosilicate glass tube has a length of 200, 300, 400, 600, 700±0.25 or 1000±1 mm with an inner diameter of 16±0.02, 26±0.02 or 50±1.00 mm.
Thermostatic jacket (6). The jacket is an acrylic plastic tube with threaded ends. It enclos the chromatographic tube and is aled to the end piece with an O-ring.
Column tube (8). The chromatographic column tube consists of the glass tube, thermostatic jacket and the respective column end pieces.Column end pieces (3). The red end pieces, made of reinforced acetal plastic, hold the glass tube and the thermostatic jacket in position. Each end piece hous an O-ring, a aling ring, a washer and a locking ring. The end piece also carries a fluid con
nector through which fluid from the thermostat enters or leaves the column.Column bottom piece (7). The bottom piece screws onto the column end piece. The medium bed is supported by a 10 μm nylon net ring, which is placed on top of a plunger (4). The bottom piece is aled to the chromatographic tube by an O-ring.
Adaptor (1). The adaptor consists of a top end cap that fits the column end piece, and a plunger that carries the net ring and support screen. It also has an adjusting knob (2) that als the adaptor to the column wall.
Tubing . XK columns are supplied with capillary tubing. The adaptor tubing is 80 cm long. The bottom piece tubing is 30 cm long. The inlets on the adaptor and the column bottom piece have a 5 cm protection tubing threaded over the capillary tubing. This prevents the capillary Fig. 1 XK adaptor with an XK column.
Table 1. Dimensions of XK columns Length (cm)i.d. 16 mm i.d. 26 mm i.d. 50 mm 20XK 16/20XK 26/20XK 50/2030--XK 50/3040XK 16/40XK 26/40-60--XK
50/6070XK 16/70XK 26/70-100
XK 16/100
XK 26/100
XK 50/100
23
451
6
32
7
48
Materials
Under normal operating conditions, the only materials in contact with the eluent are: glass-fibre reinforced polypropylene, polyamide, acrylic plastic, borosilicate glass, fluoro-rubber and Tefzel™/ Teflon™. Resistance
The columns can be ud in aqueous solutions and almost all the organic solvents commonly ud in liquid chromatography of macromolecules, with the following exceptions:
•chlorinated hydrocarbons
•acetone and other ketones
•aliphatic esters
•phenol
Solutions containing more than 10% sodium hydroxide,
10% hydrochloric acid, other strong mineral acids or 5% acetic acid should not be ud either.
The thermostatic jacket should only be ud with water as cooling fluid. Acrylic plastic is not resistant to alcohol, ethylene glycol or other organic solvents.
The column may be ud at temperatures up to 40°C and pressures up to 0.5 MPa (5 bar) for XK 16 and XK 26 columns, and 0.3 MPa (3 bar) for XK 50 columns. The jacket can also withstand temperatures up to 40°C but should not be expod to pressures higher than 0.2 MPa (2 bar).
Cleaning
Suitable cleaning agents are soapy water or laboratory detergents. Enzyme detergents are recommended for removing proteinaceous contaminants.
The column can be autoclaved without the thermostatic jacket, tubings and net ring. Alternatively, the entire column may be sterilized with ethylene oxide.
Instructions
Note:It is important to always loon the black adjusting knob before inrting or removing the bottom piece and the column
adaptor.
Dismantling the adaptor or the bottom piece
See Figure 5 for details.
1Loon the black adjusting knob (5).
2Unscrew the end cap (6, 19) and loon the adaptor (1) from the column.
3While holding the inner shaft (8), unscrew the plunger (11).
4Before autoclaving, remove the O-ring (10). For XK 50, remove the expander ring also.
5The net ring (13) may now be removed from the plunger (11) with
a sharp tool.
Replacing the net ring and support screen
See Figure 2 for details.
1Remove the net ring (3) with a sharp tool.
2Remove the support screen (2) from the plunger.
3Place the new support screen (2) and net ring (3) on the plunger (1).4Press on the net ring (3).
Note: If the net ring is difficult to press on, it can be warmed in hot
Fig. 2 Replacing the net ring and the support screen on the plunger. Reasmbling the adaptor
1Tighten the inner shaft firmly to the plunger (Fig 3a and 3b).
Fig. 3 Tightening the plunger onto the inner shaft.
2Adjust the O-ring on the plunger against the adaptor shaft using the adjusting knob (Fig 3c). Do not overtighten.
The adaptor is now ready for u.
1
3
2
(a)(b)
(c)
(c)
2
Reasmbling the bottom piece
1Tighten the inner shaft firmly to the plunger (Fig 3a and 3b).
2Adjust the O-ring on the plunger against the bottom end cap using the black adjusting knob (Fig 3c).
3Screw the bottom piece (7) into the column end piece (3) (Fig 1). 4Tighten the adjusting knob to obtain a good al. Do not overtighten.
Exchanging the capillary tubing
1Dismantle the bottom piece or the adaptor.
2Remove the ferrule and the existing capillary tubing.
3Pass the new tubing through the inner shaft (Fig 4a).
Fig. 4 Passing the new tubing through the inner shaft.
4Put on a new ferrule and screw the plunger onto the inner shaft. 5Reasmble the bottom piece or the adaptor (Fig 4b). Dismantling the columns XK 16 and XK 26
1Unscrew the bottom piece and the adaptor.
2U the dismantling tool to unscrew the locking rings and to free the chromatographic tube.
3Remove the aling ring, washer and chromatographic tube.
4Unscrew the column end pieces from the thermostatic jacket and remove the O-ring.
Dismantling the column XK 50
1Unscrew the bottom piece and adaptor.
2Unscrew the column end pieces from the thermostatic jacket and remove the O-rings.
Note: The XK 50 column chromatographic glass tube is held in position by built-in aling rings in the end piece. Washer
and locking rings are not required.Reasmbling the columns XK 16 and XK 26
1Put the chromatographic glass tube into the thermostatic jacket. 2Install one of the end pieces by screwing into the thermostatic jacket, ensuring that the O-ring is in place.
3Put a aling ring at the end of the glass tube followed by a washer.
4Screw in the locking ring with the dismantling tool.
5Repeat steps 2 to 4 for the other end of the column. Reasmbling the column XK 50
1Screw the two end pieces onto the thermostatic jacket. Ensure that the metal spring-rings are ated in the built-in aling rings and that the O-rings are in place in the end pieces.
2Wet the built-in aling rings with water. Slide in one end of the chromatographic glass tube through the built-in aling ring,
thermostatic jacket and finally through the built-in aling ring of the other end piece. Push the tube towards the cond aling ring. U a small screwdriver or a similar blunt tool to carefully ea the aling ring over the tube.
Note: It is important to properly tighten the bottom piece and the adaptor to the end piece.
(a)
(b)
3
Table 2. The maximum bed heights (cm) and bed volumes (ml) possible using one or two adaptors in the various XK columns (Plea e “Packing Rervoirs and Column Packing” on page6)
With one adaptor With two adaptors
Column Volume (ml)Bed height (cm)Volume (ml)Bed height (cm)
XK 16/205-31 2.5-15.50-310-15.5
XK 16/4045-7022.5-3516-708-35
XK 16/70105-13052.5-6576-13038-65
XK 16/100165-19082.5-95136-19068-95
XK 26/205-661-12.50-660-12.5
XK 26/40122-18623-3545-1868.5-35
XK 26/70281-34453-65204-34438.5-65
XK 26/100440-50483-95363-50468.5-95
XK 50/200-2740-140-2740-14
XK 50/30265-55914-280-5590-28
XK 50/60794-108840-56500-108826-56
XK 50/1001588-186281-951274-186265-95
4
5
1
296
11121387
345
101514161718
161514131211109195
20
21
22
