EFFECT OF THE INTERSECTION OF THE INDIVIDUAL ISOTHERMS IN DISPLACEMENT CHROMATOGRAPHY

Neither the existence of an intersection between the two single-component isotherms drawn on the same graph, nor the fact that the column saturation capacity for the more retained component is lower than that of the lesser retained component, have any major consequence on the chromatographic behavior of elution bands or on the formation of the isotachic train, as long as the equilibrium isotherms of the two components are properly described by the competitive Langmuir model. Significant deviation from this model could make impossible the formation of an isotachic train in displacement chromatography, but definitive experimental proof of the existence of this effect is lacking.