Thermodynamics and mass transfer kinetics of phenol in reversed phase liquid chromatography

The thermodynamics and the mass transfer kinetics of the chromatographic system made of phenol, in a water-acetonitrile mobile phase, on a C18 RPLC column, were studied in the temperature range from 21 to and the interstitial velocity range of 0.021 to 1.27 cm/s. The equilibrium isotherm was accurately approximated by a multilayer model assuming lateral interactions between adsorbed molecules. The parameters of the kinetics of the phenol mass transfer in this column were measured by the method of moments. These data were analyzed using the available models and correlations. It was proven that the parameters of the mass transfer kinetics measured under linear conditions could be successfully used for the prediction of the concentration profiles obtained under overloaded conditions.