EVALUATION OF THE POTENTIAL USEFULNESS OF IN-SITU FIBER OPTIC SENSORSFOR COLUMN MONITORING IN CHROMATOGRAPHIC SEPARATIONS AND PURIFICATIONS

Fiber optic sensors show promise for real-time monitoring of local con ditions inside chromatography columns. Experiments on a Sephadex G-50 column, with blue dextran as the test analyte, showed that insertion o f a single fiber or a lattice of fibers did not interfere with column fluidics, provided the fiber diameter was within the same order of mag nitude as the diameters of the particles composing the column packing. Experiments on a Sephadex G-50 column, with fluorescein as the test a nalyte, showed that column packing particles do not interfere with the sensor's ability to accurately reflect differences in fluorescence pr oduced by fluorescein under different conditions (e.g., concentration, pH). Experiments with fluorescein on a G-50 column also showed that f iber optic sensors can be used to monitor local analyte concentrations within a column and to diagnose column problems which lead to reduced column efficiency.