ABSTRACT
A chromatographic process occurs when solutes contained in a complex mixture flowing through a porous medium are selectively retained by the medium, causing a variable retention and therefore a possible separation of the constituents from the mixture. This chapter presents an alternative method based on a systems approach that makes it possible to build up models of variable complexity in a modular and flexible way. The flow in industrial columns may be more complex and require models with several parameters. A useful model to represent any kind of residence-time distribution is the “bundle of parallel tubes” model, in which the fluid is assumed to flow with constant velocity along a pile of tubes of increasing length. The general method that has been presented shows that the properties of the chromatograms can be found from the topology of the path grid and from the variations of the propagation velocity along the paths.
