Exact description of simple wave interactions in multicomponent chromatography

Nonlinear wave interaction processes for a quasilinear hyperbolic homogeneous system of first-order partial differential equations multicomponent chromatography are investigated. The wave analysis is worked out by extending to the present multicomponent case the leading ideas of a well established method of approach that was developed for solving initial value wave problems in terms of exact solutions to 2 × 2 hyperbolic homogeneous systems. These interaction processes may model different situations concerning the separation of a mixture into its chemical components. Several numerical plots are also given in order to illustrate the behavior of the exact wave solutions arising from the analysis that is accomplished.