PREDICTABLE AND CONSISTENT PERFORMANCE OF ANGULAR PACKING IN AXIAL-COMPRESSION COLUMNS

Various silica-based angular materials were packed and tested in a dynamic axial compression (DAC) column. Effects of packing pressures and solvents on the performance of the angular packings in DAC columns were examined. Column performance (i.e., column efficiency and bed pressure) was examined using environmentally friendly pure solvents as slurry solvents; performance was compared with theoretical predictions. Plots of the reduced plate height (h) us. reduced velocity (v) for two silica-based packing materials, bonded-phase and bare silica, with a nominal pore diameter of 100 Angstrom and nominal particle diameter of 10 mu m were established to evaluate mass transfer effects on the column performance under different packing conditions. Results were in close agreement with theoretical predictions. Stability and repacking of these two packing materials in DAC columns were also investigated.