Sustain2D: A New Era of Turnkey GC×GC Analysis for ASTM

As global adoption of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) accelerates, laboratories face mounting pressure to deliver faster, more insightful, and more reproducible characterization of increasingly complex fuel blends. Responding to this industry shift, PAC Powered by AC has introduced Sustain2D, a transformative family of turnkey GC×GC-FID analyzers engineered for the demands of ASTM D8396. By combining flow-based modulation, quantitative FID detection, and PAC Powered by AC’s proven global GC platform, Sustain2D brings advanced multidimensional chromatography into reach for routine laboratories, all without adding operational complexity.

Purpose-Built for Jet Fuel and SAF

Today’s SAF production landscape spans a wide range of technologies from HEFA, FT, and ATJ, to emerging pathways, each producing fuels with unique molecular profiles. Understanding these subtle yet consequential differences requires analytical resolution far beyond what traditional GC methods can offer.

Sustain2D is built for precisely this challenge. Its dual-column configuration and flow-based modulation deliver high-resolution separation of paraffins, naphthenes, and aromatics, revealing the structured, highly resolved elution patterns needed for confident group-type quantification. This clarity is essential not only for accurate compositional analysis but also for blending decisions, certification workflows, and compliance across diverse SAF and Jet Fuel matrices.

Turnkey by Design: Ready on Day One

One of the most persistent obstacles to GC×GC adoption has been the operational overhead of cryogenic systems, external hardware, and complex configurations that create barriers to implementation. Sustain2D was designed to eliminate that friction entirely.

Each system arrives fully assembled, configured, and performance-tested for ASTM D8396, allowing laboratories to begin running methods immediately without any need for a specialized setup, no additional hardware, and no cryogenics required. Its flow-based modulator reduces bench space, lowers maintenance needs, and simplifies ongoing operation. In practice, this means labs can introduce the resolving power of GC×GC without disrupting existing workflows.

Familiar Workflow, Elevated Performance

Despite its advanced multidimensional capability, Sustain2D preserves the usability and reliability of a conventional GC platform. Built on the world’s most trusted GC architecture and equipped with a Flame Ionization Detector, it delivers fast, quantitative hydrocarbon analysis through workflows analysts already know. Its automated liquid autosampler, split/splitless inlet, dual capillary columns, and integrated flow modulator function as a tightly coordinated analytical ecosystem, ensuring stability and repeatability in every run. This familiar yet elevated design positions GC×GC not as a specialist’s tool, but as a dependable part of daily lab operations.

That dependability is reinforced by real-world performance. Sustain2D has been validated using gravimetric blends of paraffins, naphthenes, and aromatics, demonstrating accurate analyte transfer, optimized modulation timing, and clean, high-resolution chromatographic patterns. These capabilities are essential for modern SAF quality assurance, where laboratories must confidently detect trace-level components and fully characterize fuel chemistry with uncompromising precision.

Advancing the Future of Jet Fuel Testing

Sustain2D represents a significant step forward in multidimensional chromatography, bringing regulator-ready, high-resolution GC×GC analysis to a broader range of laboratories than ever before. Its combination of turnkey simplicity, analytical power, and PAC Powered by AC’s longstanding application expertise sets a new benchmark for SAF and Jet Fuel characterization.

For labs facing the growing demands of ASTM D8396, Sustain2D delivers a new era of confidence and capability, raising analytical accuracy without increasing complexity.

Learn more about Sustain2D