Numerical study and theoretical performance limit of interconnected multi-capillary gas chromatography columns with perfectly ordered pillar patterns

We present the results of a theoretical and numerical study of the chromatographic performance of a novel type of microfabricated GC column. The column consists of an array of rectangular flow diverters (pillars), creating a network of perfectly ordered, interconnected and tortuous flow-through paths. Using van Deemter and kinetic plots of simulated band broadening data, we could demonstrate that the proposed column structure performs as a bundle of parallel open-tubular capillaries with rectangular cross-section, connected by a regular pattern of channel-intermixing points that allow compensating for inevitable channel-to-channel differences in migration velocity without adding any significant dispersion themselves. The established kinetic plots also allowed to propose design rules for the optimal distance between the pillars as a function of the desired separation efficiency and the available column pressure. The simulations also allowed establishing an expression for the plate height as a function of the velocity of the carrier gas. Results are also compared to the results of a recent experimental study.