In this work, an equilibrium-dispersion model was successfully established to describe the breakthrough performance of Ca(II) imprinted chitosan (Ca(II)-CS) microspheres packed column for metal adsorption, and the assumptions of Langmuir isotherms and axial dispersion controlled mass transfer process were confirmed. The axial dispersion coefficient in Ca(II)-CS microspheres packed column was found to be almost proportional to the linear velocity and fit for prediction through single breakthrough test. Sensitivity analysis for breakthrough curve indicated the axial dispersion coefficient as well as Langmuir coefficient was sensitive variable for deep removal requirement. The retrieval of the adsorption isotherms of Ca(II)-CS microspheres from breakthrough curve was fulfilled by modelling calibration. A strategy based on the correlation between adsorption isotherms and breakthrough performance was further proposed to simplify the column adsorption design using absorbents with small uniform size and fast adsorption kinetics like Ca(II)-CS microspheres to cut clown the gap between lab and industry. (C) 2015 The Chemical Industry and Engineering Society of China, and Chemical Industry Press. All rights resented.