VERIFICATION OF THE EXTENDED STATISTICAL-MODEL OF OVERLAP - APPLICATION TO GAS CHROMATOGRAMS CONTAINING VARIABLE PEAK DENSITIES

An extended statistical model of overlap that is fairly insensitive to the density of single-component peaks was applied to gas chromatogram s of lime oil. These chromatograms were developed in three different w ays. In the first way, chromatograms were developed to contain a const ant Poisson density of single-component peaks. In the second way, chro matograms were developed by simple temperature ramps, with no concern about the densities of single-component peaks. In the third way, chrom atograms were developed by extreme variations of heating rate to gener ate single-component peaks having wide density variations. The extende d statistical model of overlap was used to predict the number of compo nents in all three types of chromatograms. These numbers were essentia lly equal to those predicted by an earlier model, which because of the oretical limitations could be applied only to chromatograms developed the first way. This equivalence of component numbers verifies that the extended model is more powerful than its predecessor and, under appro priate circumstances, can be used to interpret chromatograms with litt le or no concern about the density of single-component peaks.