Approaches to Solving the Peak Overlap Problem

A substantial gain in peak capacity can be made by utilizing two-dimensional systems, as noted in Section 6.5. This approach has been successfully implemented in the form of two-dimensional electrophoresis systems, described in Section 6.4, but effective technology for two-dimensional column chromatography is still to be developed [13,14]. 

Coupled column (multidimensional) systems in chromatography have also been developed to improve resolution. The coupled column procedure, as noted in Section 6.4, requires two or more columns of different kinds having different retention mechanisms. 

The approaches described above are designed to increase peak capacity and thus reduce peak overlap. A radically different approach involves accepting component overlap as inevitable and directing attention at numerical rather than physical peak resolution. Numerical resolution allows the recovery of analytical information but not the recovery of purified components. 

While shape abnormalities suggest fused peaks, it is difficult to determine the number and size of the component peaks that have gone into the fused 

Suppose that the focusing velocity W= U = - ay originates as a relative displacement velocity U impelled by an external potential function of the following form having a minimum at y = 0 

---