On the Use of the Knox Equation. II. the Efficiency Measurement Problem

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Abstract
The Knox equation, which relates the reduced plate height, h, to the reduced linear velocity, v, has a great importance in column and stationary phase testing. Significant A, B, and C terms of the Knox equation cannot be obtain with erroneous plate heights, h. Four methods for efficiency determination, the inflection (0.6H) method, the height/area method, an asymmetry based (0.1H) method and the moment method, were critically compared using 200 real chromatograms. Efficiency obtained using Gaussian assuming methods were highly overestimated, while the asymmetry based method gave quite acceptable results. Using the exponentially modified Gaussian model, it is demonstrated that the b/a ratio (the sum b + a is the peak-width at 10% of the peak height) is not an empirical figure of merit but can be related to a “peak skew” expression.