Ion chromatography (IC) is a powerful technique for the separation of inorganic and small organic ions using high efficiency ion-exchange stationary phases.Both isocratic and gradient elution conditions can be employed, and in typical situations encountered in practice, the elution profile providing optimal separation will comprise a combination of several elution steps involving different isocratic and gradient conditions.Optimization of the eluent profile by traditional trial-and-error procedures can therefore be very complex and time consuming due to the number of parameters involved.For this reason, reliable computer simulation and optimisation of the eluent profile is very desirable.