PRECISION AND ACCURACY OF THE GAS SOLID ADSORPTION-ISOTHERMS DERIVED BY THE ELUTION-BY-CHARACTERISTIC-POINTS METHOD

The influence of the fluctuations of the experimental parameters on the reproducibility of the overloaded band profiles used to determine the isotherms by the elution-by-characteristic-points (ECP) method was investigated using two new tools. A parameter measuring the difference between two similar curves, such as overloaded elution profiles or adsorption isotherms, was defined. The band profiles measured were compared with those calculated from the derived isotherm, using models from the theory of non-linear chromatography. The agreement between both profiles was defined as a distance lower than twice the average distance between two profiles measured on the same day on the same column. The degree of validity of the various assumptions made in the ECP method was assessed.