| Abstract: | The original plate model of chromatography is extended to the sorption process occurring at the column inlet and the desorption process at the column exit. At the column inlet it is shown that sufficiently wide feed bands undergo no change in concentration but a fall in band width, i.e., the volume of mobile phase occupied by the solute band is reduced. The reduction factor is (1 + k) where k is the mass distribution ratio (capacity factor). Narrower bands suffer partial reduction in both band width and concentration. On desorption at the outlet, however, the change is always in band width and not concentration. A perfect detector registers the true concentration-time profile of the band in the column if the solute mass fraction in the stationary phase is below 10?3 at the column outlet. The risks of stripping the stationary phase at high solute concentrations in analytical and preparative or production gas chromatography are compared. |
