Extending the potential of moment analysis in chromatography

• Moment analysis is demonstrated for two standard chromatographic models.
• The effect of different column inlet boundary conditions is illustrated.
• Moment analysis of the general rate model is presented for core-shell particles.
• Potential of core-shell particles compared to fully porous particles is analyzed.
• Moments of a two-dimensional model of a chromatographic column is presented.

Essential goal of modeling chromatographic processes is to describe the dynamics of concentration fronts traveling through chromatographic columns. Most of the models developed originate from differential mass balances for the fluid and solid phases. Model reduction based on evaluating just a limited number of moments of the profiles is known to be a powerful tool to simplify the description of band profiles. This review article first describes the well-established method of moments for different standard models. Then the method is extended to evaluate more complex and realistic column models. The cases of applying columns packed with core-shell particles and the quantitative description of radial concentration profiles are analyzed.