Column peak capacity

LC-LC coupling systems are also employed to perform separations requiring very large plate numbers. However, it has been demonstrated (see equation (5.20) that for coupled columns peak capacity increases linearly with the square root of n... 

Gilar, M., Daly, A.E., Kele, M., Neue, U.D., Gebler, J.C. (2004). Implications of column peak capacity on the separation of complex peptide mixtures in single- and two-dimensional high-performance liquid chromatography. J. Chromatogr. A 1061, 183-192. 

These chromatographic examples demonstrate the utility of PLOT columns for the resolution of the various chemical constituent fractions of shale oil and their compatibility with interfaced IR and mass spectral peak identification. The major advantage of the higher column peak capacity of the PLOT columns makes the latter measurements more feasible particularly for the minor components in the chromatogram. 

The great advantage of the combination of multiple chromatographic separation steps is the increase in peak capacity. Peak capacity is the maximum number of peaks that can be resolved in a given retention time frame. The more peaks a combination of techniques is able to resolve, the more complex samples can be analysed. When a sample is separated using two dissimilar columns, the maximum peak capacity will be the product of the individual columns peak capacity <1> . 

Another important consideration is the number of solutes that can be baseline resolved on a given column. An estimate of a column s peak capacity, is... 

To minimize the multiple path and mass transfer contributions to plate height (equations 12.23 and 12.26), the packing material should be of as small a diameter as is practical and loaded with a thin film of stationary phase (equation 12.25). Compared with capillary columns, which are discussed in the next section, packed columns can handle larger amounts of sample. Samples of 0.1-10 )J,L are routinely analyzed with a packed column. Column efficiencies are typically several hundred to 2000 plates/m, providing columns with 3000-10,000 theoretical plates. Assuming Wiax/Wiin is approximately 50, a packed column with 10,000 theoretical plates has a peak capacity (equation 12.18) of... 

Kovat s retention index (p. 575) liquid-solid adsorption chromatography (p. 590) longitudinal diffusion (p. 560) loop injector (p. 584) mass spectrum (p. 571) mass transfer (p. 561) micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography (p. 606) micelle (p. 606) mobile phase (p. 546) normal-phase chromatography (p. 580) on-column injection (p. 568) open tubular column (p. 564) packed column (p. 564) peak capacity (p. 554)... 

The peak capacity of a column has been defined as the number of peaks that can be fitted into a chromatogram between the dead point and the last peak, with each peak being separated from its neighbor by 4a. The last peak of chromatogram is rather a... 

Peak capacity can be very effectively improved by using temperature programming in GC or gradient elution in LC. However, if the mixture is very complex with a large number of individual solutes, then the same problem will often arise even under programming conditions. These difficulties arise as a direct result of the limited peak capacity of the column. It follows that it would be useful to derive an equation that... 

The curves show that the peak capacity increases with the column efficiency, which is much as one would expect, however the major factor that influences peak capacity is clearly the capacity ratio of the last eluted peak. It follows that any aspect of the chromatographic system that might limit the value of (k ) for the last peak will also limit the peak capacity. Davis and Giddings [15] have pointed out that the theoretical peak capacity is an exaggerated value of the true peak capacity. They claim that the individual (k ) values for each solute in a realistic multi-component mixture will have a statistically irregular distribution. As they very adroitly point out, the solutes in a real sample do not array themselves conveniently along the chromatogram four standard deviations apart to provide the maximum peak capacity. 

However, with practical samples the way the (k ) values of the individual components for any given complex solute mixture are distributed is not predictable, and will vary very significantly from mixture to mixture, depending on the nature of the sample. Nevertheless, although the values for the theoretical peak capacity of a column given by equation (26) can be used as a reasonable practical guide for comparing different columns, the theoretical values that are obtained will always be in excess of the peak capacities that are actually realized in practice. 

Equation (33) shows that the maximum capacity ratio of the last eluted solute is inversely proportional to the detector sensitivity or minimum detectable concentration. Consequently, it is the detector sensitivity that determines the maximum peak capacity attainable from the column. Using equation (33), the peak capacity was calculated for three different detector sensitivities for a column having an efficiency of 10,000 theoretical plates, a dead volume of 6.7 ml and a sample concentration of l%v/v. The results are shown in Table 1, and it is seen that the limiting peak capacity is fairly large. 

The analytical capability of a SEC column is sometimes judged by the peak capacity, which is the number of unique species that can be resolved on any given SEC column. This number will increase with decreased particle size, increased column length, and increased pore volume. Because small particlesized medium generally has a lower pore volume and a shorter column length, peak capacities of ca. 13 for fully resolved peaks can be expected for high-resolution modern media as well as traditional media, (see Eig. 2.5). It was found that SEC columns differ widely in pore volume, which affects the effective peak capacity (Hagel, 1992). 

FIGURE 2.5 Theoretical peak capacity of different columns for SEC. 

One final quality parameter that is sometimes specified in test methods is the peak capacity of the column set. In the literature of the OECD, this peak capacity is required to have a value of 6.0 or greater. This peak capacity is defined by Eq. (2) ... 

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