A method for the rapid simulation of preparative liquid chromatography

A new method for the simulation of preparative liquid chromatography, which is considerably faster (up to several orders of magnitude) than previous algorithms, is presented. In this method a propagating concentration band is represented by a set of point masses. The thermodynamic dispersion is accounted for by a concentration dependent velocity distribution and the kinetic dispersion is superimposed by means of an internodal mass exchange. The characteristics of this method is demonstrated by simulation of the separation of binary mixtures at overload conditions, assuming competitive Langmuir adsorption isotherms. The results obtained agree well with those obtained with a conventional method (Craig). A unique feature of this method is that the computational time required is merely weakly dependent on the number of theoretical plates thus allowing the simulation of highly efficient columns. Also the precision of the method is easy to adjust and the salient features of the band profile can be established with minor computational effort, which is essential in the optimization of industrial scale preparative liquid chromatography.