Prediction of the resolution of capillary columns in different conditions of inlet pressure and temperature

A procedure previously described for the prediction of the plate height of capillary columns operated at different inlet pressure of the carrier gas and at various column temperatures by using few retention data measured under isobaric conditions was modified and improved in order to permit the prediction of the retention times and of the peak widths at various heights. It is therefore possible to calculate the ratio, δ, between the peak width at different heights and the peak width at half height, whose value is used to predict the resolution at different height of two closely eluting peaks. It was found that the δ values do not depend on temperature and inlet pressure and are a characteristic of the used column; they can therefore be used in order to calculate the resolution in any temperature and inlet pressure condition. The method was used to predict the retention time, the peak width and the resolution of polar and non-polar compounds (alkanes, alkenes, chloroalkanes, alcohols, ketones) on capillary columns of different length and polarity by using as the starting data retention and width values measured in three isobaric runs only.