| Abstract: | A digital chromatogram simulator has been used to evaluate the performance of data handling systems. The simulator can synthesize chromatograms with any desired shape from a library of peaks based on real peak shapes. Once generated, the chromatograms can be reproduced exactly any number of times. The algorithms used in data handling systems have a significant effect on the results they produce. An object of this work was to examine how well the true size of a peak was reported when the peak was detected overlapping with other peaks. A series of experiments was therefore performed in which peaks were overlapped by different amounts and in different situations. The reported results from the data systems were compared with the results which would have been reported had the peaks been fully resolved. A significant difference was found between the overlap results and the fully resolved results, which did not have a linear relationship with the parameters tested. The chromatogram simulator was found to be a powerful tool in assessing the performance of the data systems. It offers a valuable means of evaluating the quality of the results produced by these systems. |
