ABSTRACT
The experimental results of a previous study of the mass transfer kinetics of bovine serum albumin (BSA) in ion-exchange chromatography, under nonlinear conditions, were reevaluated using the general rate model of chromatography. Solutions of this model were obtained numerically. The influences of axial dispersion, the resistance to mass transfer from the bulk mobile phase to the surface of the packing particles, and the intraparticle mass transfer resistances on the profiles of the breakthrough curves of BSA were investigated. The results obtained are compared to those of a previous investigation of the same data, using the simple transport-dispersive model and the lumped pore diffusion model. The results obtained show that the use of an oversimplified model for the analysis of chromatographic data can lead to erroneous interpretations of the experimental data and to misunderstandings of the fundamentals of the processes involved. Finally, a theoretical comparison between the properties and the range of application of the three models is provided.
Subject(s)
Chromatography, Ion Exchange/methods , Models, Chemical , Serum Albumin, Bovine/chemistry , Animals , Anion Exchange Resins , Cattle , KineticsABSTRACT
A variety of complementary evidence reviewed here demonstrates that the packing of chromatographic columns is heterogeneous. It is denser and less well organized close to the column wall than in the center of the column. The mechanism of particle consolidation under stress explains the origin of this phenomenon and provides a fundamental justification to what is known in column chromatography as "the wall effect".