Reliability and limitations of pulse chromatography in evaluating properties of flow systems: 1. modelling and experimental considerations

Abstract Reproducibility of response characteristics and parameters derived therefrom, and adequacy of the Kubin‐Kucera model for pulse chromatography were investigated experimentally using the physisorption of methane and ethane on silica gel. Reproducibility was found to be excellent, while the agreement of predicted and observed effects of velocity, particle size, temperature and bed length on model parameters confirmed the adequacy of the model. Agreement of the pore diffusivity and the adsorption equilibrium constant with values measured by other techniques provide further support for the model. Rearrangement of model terms shows that the rate coefficient for physisorption and the mass transfer coefficient cannot be measured using chromatography.