Packed columns supports

Most packed column supports are prepared from diatomaceous earth, which is composed of skeletons of diatoms. The diatomite is basically an amorphous... 

Packed Columns A packed column is constructed from glass, stainless steel, copper or aluminum and is typically 2-6 m in length, with an internal diameter of 2-4 mm. The column is filled with a particulate solid support, with particle diameters ranging from 37-44 pm to 250-354 pm. 

The Liquid Phase. The stationary phase in an open tubular column is generally coated or chemically bonded to the wall of the capillary column in the same way the phase is attached to the support of a packed column. These are called nonbonded and bonded phases, respectively. In capillary columns there is no support material or column packing. 

As indicated above, packed column internals include hqiiid distributors, packing support plates, redistributors (as needed), and holddown plates (to prevent movement of packing under flow conditions). Costs of these internals for columns with random packing are given in Fig. 14-80, based on early 1976 prices, and a Marshall and Swift cost index of 460. 

It is clear that the separation ratio is simply the ratio of the distribution coefficients of the two solutes, which only depend on the operating temperature and the nature of the two phases. More importantly, they are independent of the mobile phase flow rate and the phase ratio of the column. This means, for example, that the same separation ratios will be obtained for two solutes chromatographed on either a packed column or a capillary column, providing the temperature is the same and the same phase system is employed. This does, however, assume that there are no exclusion effects from the support or stationary phase. If the support or stationary phase is porous, as, for example, silica gel or silica gel based materials, and a pair of solutes differ in size, then the stationary phase available to one solute may not be available to the other. In which case, unless both stationary phases have exactly the same pore distribution, if separated on another column, the separation ratios may not be the same, even if the same phase system and temperature are employed. This will become more evident when the measurement of dead volume is discussed and the importance of pore distribution is considered. 

Giddings [2] estimated that, for a well-packed column, (y) takes a value of about 0.6. Equation (11) accurately describes longitudinal dispersion in GC capillary columns and equation (12) accurately describes longitudinal dispersion in GC and LC packed columns. Experimental support for these equations will be given in a later chapter. 

In a packed column, however, the situation is quite different and more complicated. Only point contact is made between particles and, consequently, the film of stationary phase is largely discontinuous. It follows that, as solute transfer between particles can only take place at the points of contact, diffusion will be severely impeded. In practice the throttling effect of the limited contact area between particles renders the dispersion due to diffusion in the stationary phase insignificant. This is true even in packed LC columns where the solute diffusivity in both phases are of the same order of magnitude. The negligible effect of dispersion due to diffusion in the stationary phase is also supported by experimental evidence which will be included later in the chapter. 

Gel filtration separations are performed in an aqueous environment and the requirement on chemical resistance is therefore modest. Most column tubes and accessories (e.g., support net, sealings) withstand the solvent mixtures sometimes used in aqueous SEC such as 20% ethanol, 3 M guanidinium hydrochloride, 6 M urea, or 0.1 M HCl and 1 M NaOH, the last two being used for cleaning the packed column (see Section V). 

The use of bonded, silica column supports has also become a useful way to characterize cationic, water-soluble polymers. CATSEC SEC columns from Micra Scientific contain a silica support with a polymerized polyamine-bonded phase. This imparts a cationic surface charge on the packing that can be... 

T. A. Berger, Practical advantages of packed column supercritical fluid chromatography in supporting combinations chemistiy , in Unified Chromatography, J. P. Parcher and T. L. Chester (Eds), ACS Symposium Series 748, American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, pp. 203-233 (2000). 

The typical packed column has one or more beds, each consisting of packing, a support plate, a hold-down support plate, and a liquid distributor. 

Five types of columns are routinely used in gas chromatography classical packed columns with internal diameters greater than 2 mm containing particles in the range 100 to 250 micrometers micropacked columns having diameters less than 1 mm with a packing density similar to classical packed columns (dp/d less than 0.3, where dp is the particle diameter and d the column diameter) packed capillary lumns have a column diameter less than 0.5 mm and a packing density less than classical packed columns (dp/d 0.2-0.3) SCOT columns (support-coated open... 

In a typical experimental arrangement, the injection block heater of the gas chromatograph is used to heat a short catalyst bed containing platinum, palladium, copper or nickel coated on a diatomaceous support. The catalyst bed can be the top portion of a packed column or a precolumn connected to a packed or open tubular column. Hydrogen carrier gas flows through the heated catalyst bed (220-350 0) and then into the column. The sam B is injected by... 

Guo et al. [53] developed a gas chromatographic method for the analysis of miconazole nitrate in creams and injections. The conditions were flame ionization detector, stationary phase of 5% SE 30 support of Chromosorb W (AS-DMCS, 80—100 mesh) packed column 3 m x 3 mm column temperature 275 °C injection temperature 290 °C and diisooctyl sebacate and internal standard. The average recoveries for creams and injections were 97.7 and 101.4%, respectively. The relative standard deviations were 2.2 and 1.3%, respectively. 

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