AIChE Journal, Vol.42, No.3, 683-690, 1996
Experimental Evaluation of Designs for the Simulated Countercurrent Moving-Bed Separator
Simulated countercurrent chromatography is a continuous flow method for separation of binary mixtures or for separation of multicomponent mixtures into two fractions. Countercurrent flow is simulated by moving the feed point past several fixed adsorbent beds at a rate between the single column breakthrough time of each component. The number of columns and the location of the inlet and outlet port were varied to investigate product purity and productivity. Concentration profiles of the effluent product streams were measured. The maximum product concentration exceeds the feed concentration during part of the feed-switching cycle and drops to zero during part of the cycle. Three configurations were tested with the fetal number of columns varying between three and eight. For the test separation chosen, gaseous propylene and dimethyl ether on Chromosorb 101, high purity (> 99%) product streams were obtained with an optimal four-column configuration using three desorbent streams.
Keywords:FRUCTOSE GLUCOSE SEPARATION;ADSORPTION SYSTEM;ADSORBER;CHROMATOGRAPHY;OPERATION;MIXTURES;PERFORMANCE;MODEL