Theoretical study of the effect of frit quality on chromatography using computational fluid dynamics

Abstract

Frits at both ends of a chromatographic column, especially for a preparative column, have significont influence on the flow distribution within the column and thus the column efficiency. However, frits have received little attention from chromatographers in the past. Here a theoretical study was conducted with the aid of CFD software FLUENT to investigate the effect of frits on the performance of homogeneous and heterogeneous chromatographic columns. A dimensionless number, FQ, was applied to characterize frit quality. This study visualized how frit quality affects the flow distribution and the concentration band, the shape of eluted pulse at the column exit and column efficiency. Simulation results show that the development length of the flow distribution is related to FQ but has nothing to do with the packing heterogeneity. The curvature of the concentration band in a column depends on FQ and packing quality. This study shows column efficiency can be improved significantly by increasing FQ and/or frit permeability.