Numerical method for the estimation of column radial heterogeneity and of the actual column efficiency from tailing peak profiles

It is probably impossible to prepare high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) columns that have a completely homogeneous packing structure. Many reports in the literature show that the radial distributions of the mobile phase flow velocity and the local column efficiency are not flat, even in columns considered as good. A degree of radial heterogeneity seems to be a common property of all HPLC columns and an important source of peak tailing, which prevents the derivation of accurate information on chromatographic behavior from a straightforward analysis of elution peak profiles. This work reports on a numerical method developed to derive from recorded peak profiles the column efficiency at the column center, the degree of column radial heterogeneity, and the polynomial function that best represents the radial distributions of the flow velocity and the column efficiency. This numerical method was applied to two concrete examples of tailing peak profiles previously described. It was demonstrated that this numerical method is effective to estimate important parameters characterizing the radial heterogeneity of chromatographic columns.