Abstract
A nondimensional plate height equation was proposed for the kinetic analysis of peak spreading in liquid chromatography. The equation was derived on the basis of the theory of moment analysis. The equation represents the correlation between two dimensionless parameters, the reduced plate height, h, and reduced velocity, v, with several other parameters including a surface diffusion coefficient. Characteristic features of the equation proposed were compared with those of several ordinary equations. The influence of each of the several parameters in the equation on the correlation between h and v was individually evaluated by numerical calculations. The influence of surface diffusion on h was significant at sufficiently large values of v. The contributions of a few mass-transfer processes in a column, i.e., axial dispersion, fluid-to-particle mass-transfer, and intraparticle diffusion, to h were separately evaluated. It was demonstrated that peak spreading phenomena in liquid chromatography could be numerically analyzed under various conditions according to the nondimensional equation.
