Effect of Baseline Errors on the Calculation of Statistical Moments of Tailed Chromatographic Peaks

A frequent problem in the measurement of the statistical moments and number of plates of a tailed chromatographic peak is uncertainty in locating the beginning and end of the peak. This study examines several methods for the calculation of moments using simulated exponentially-modified Gaussian peaks that were further altered to model common baseline errors. It is found that methods based on the B/A ratio of a peak are substantially less affected by these errors than are methods based on the commonly used summation methods.