Metrics of separation in chromatography

A new metric, separation measure, S, for chromatographic separation is proposed. Unlike other metrics such as resolution, separation number, and some versions of peak capacity, the new metric provides a consistent, additive measure of the separation of pairs of peaks as well as the separation capacities of arbitrary intervals within the analysis time. The attribute of additivity means that the separation measure of any separation interval is equal to the sum of the separation measures of its subintervals. Practical aspects of the measurement of S are also addressed. In addition to definition of S, a definition of peak capacity, n, that is consistent with S, and includes useful features of other known definitions of n is proposed for an arbitrary time interval.