Modeling, Simulation of a Simulated Moving Bed for Separation of Phosphatidylcholine from Soybean Phospholipids

A rate model, which considers axial dispersion, external mass transfer, intraparticle diffusion and nonlinear isotherms, and ports periodic switching is adopted to simulate the simulated moving bed （SMB） process. The effects of flow rate in Sections 2 and 3 and switching time on the operating performance parameters： purity, recovery, productivity and dcsorbent consumption are studied. A simulation approach is applied to simulate the operation and performance of the SMB. The model predicts the performance of the transient and cyclic steady state behavior to a reasonably good extent, and provides guidance operation condition of the SMB process.

Numerical Simulation of Asynchronous Simulated Moving Bed Chromatography

Asynchronous simulated moving bed chromatography (ASMBC), known also as the 'VARICOL' process, is more efficient and flexible than the well-known and traditional simulated moving bed chromatography (SMBC). A detailed model of ASMBC, taking account of non-linear competitive isotherms, mass transfer parameters, and complex port switching schedule parameters, was developed to simulate the complex dynamics of ASMBC.The simulated performance is in close agreement with the experimental data of chiral separation reported in the literature. The simulation results show that ASMBC can achieve the performance similar to SMBC with fewer columns and can achieve better performance than SMBC with the same total column number. All design and operation parameters can be chosen correctly by numerical simulation. This detailed ASMBC model and the numerical technique are useful for design, operation, optimization and scale-up of ASMBC.

A Non-linear Non-ideal Model of Simulated Moving Bed Chromatography for Chiral Separations

A non-linear non-ideal model, taking into account non-linear competitive isotherms, axial dispersion, film mass transfer, intraparticle diffusion, and port periodic switching, was developed to simulate the dynamics of simulated moving bed chromatography (SMBC). The model equations were solved by a new efficient numerical technique of orthogonal collocation on finite elements with periodical movement of concentration vector. The simulated SMBC performance is in accordance with the experimental results reported in the literature for separation of l,1'-bi-2-naphthol enantiomers using SMBC. This model is useful for design, operation, optimization and scale-up of non-linear SMBC for chiral separations with significant non-ideal effects, especially for high solute concentration and small intraparticle diffusion coefficient or large chiral stationary phase particle.

Multiobjective Optimization of Simulated Moving Bed by Tissue P System

The binaphthol enantiomers separation process using simulation moving bed technology is simulated with the true moving bed approach （TMB）. In order to systematically optimize the process with multiple productive objectives, this article develops a variant of tissue P system （TPS）. Inspired by general tissue P systems, the special TPS has a tissue-like structure with several membranes. The key rules of each membrane are the communication rule and mutation rule. These characteristics contribute to the diversity of the population, the conquest of the multimodal of objective function, and the convergence of algorithm. The results of comparison with a popular algorithm——the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm 2（NSGA-2） illustrate that the new algorithm has satisfactory performance. Using the algorithm, this study maximizes synchronously several conflicting objectives, purities of different products, and productivity.

Modeling on a Modified Feeding Mode of Simulated Moving Bed for Improving Productivity

A new feeding mode for a simulated moving bed(SMB) is proposed.The outlet stream from zone II is collected at regular intervals.The concentration of the solution is increased by dissolving raw materials and then fed to zone III as the feed stream during the next collection interval.In this feeding mode,the concentration of the stream fed to zone III is identical to that of original feed,while in a conventional SMB,the feed is diluted by mix-ing with the outlet stream of zone II before feeding to zone III.The new feeding mode increases the inlet concentra-tion of zone III.A modeling investigation shows that higher inlet concentration of zone III increases the height of concentration band in SMB,improving the separation performance significantly.In comparison with the traditonal feeding mode,the new feeding mode increases the productivity by 23.52%and decreases the solvent consumption by 22.56%,so as to increase the raffinate and extract concentrations by 53.17%and 20.38%,respectively.The col-lection interval for the outlet stream from zone II has no effect on the separation performance after reaching the steady state,so that the collection interval can be increased to make the operation more convenient.

Separation of α-Tocopherol with a Two-Feed Simulated Moving Bed

A two-feed simulated moving bed（SMB） was proposed to utilize the stationary phase more effectively.Zone I is disconnected with zone Ⅱ and zone Ⅲ is disconnected with zone IV.Two feeds are added to zones I and Ⅲ,while two desorbents are added to zones Ⅱ and IV separately.The investigation on the movement of concentra-tion bands indicated that the tail of the strong retained solute and the front of the weak retained solute were eluted from zones I and Ⅲ orderly,so the streams from zones I and Ⅲ could be cut into different fractions to give the products with high purity.The two-feed SMB was used to separate α-tocopherol from its homologue mixture suc-cessfully,and could double the productivity if both feeds were identical to the feed in the conventional four-zone SMB.The solvent consumption could be reduced by reusing the middle fraction without solutes.

Association Rules Mining Based on SVM and Its Application in Simulated Moving Bed PX Adsorption Process

In this paper, a novel data mining method is introduced to solve the multi-objective optimization problems of process industry. A hyperrectangle association rule mining （HARM） algorithm based on support vector machines （SVMs） is proposed. Hyperrectangles rules are constructed on the base of prototypes and support vectors （SVs） under some heuristic limitations. The proposed algorithm is applied to a simulated moving bed （SMB） paraxylene （PX） adsorption process. The relationships between the key process variables and some objective variables such as purity, recovery rate of PX are obtained. Using existing domain knowledge about PX adsorption process, most of the obtained association rules can be explained.

Mathematical modeling of salt-gradient ion-exchange simulated moving bed chromatography for protein separations

The salt-gradient operation mode used in ion-exchange simulated moving bed chromatography (SMBC) can improve the efficiency of protein separations. A detailed model that takes into account any kind of adsorption/ion-exchange equilibrium, salt gradient, size exclusion, mass transfer resistance, and port periodic switching mechanism, was developed to simulate the complex dynamics. The model predictions were verified by the experimental data on upward and downward gradients for protein separations reported in the literature. All design and operating parameters (number, configuration, length and diameter of columns, particle size, switching period, flow rates of feed, raffinate, desorbent and extract, protein concentrations in feed, different salt concentrations in desorbent and feed) can be chosen correctly by numerical simulation. This model can facilitate the design, operation, optimization, control and scale-up of salt-gradient ion-exchange SMBC for protein separations.

Separation of phosphatidylcholine from soybean phospholipids by simulated moving bed

A simulated moving bed (SMB), equipped with eight silica-gel columns, was used to separate phosphatidylcholine (PC) from soybean phospholipids. The effects of flow rate in Sections 2 (Q2) and 3 (Q3), switching time, feed flow rate and feed concentration on the operating performance parameters: purity, recovery, productivity and desorbent consumption were studied. Operating conditions leading to more than 90% purity in both outlet streams have been identified, together with those achieving optimal performance. Regions leading to complete separation are observed and explained theoretically. As the mass-transfer effect was not considered, the triangle theory only gives initial guesses for the optimal operating conditions.

Effect of Temperature Variation on the Separation of Sesamin and Sesamolin by Simulated Moving Bed

In this work, sesamin and sesamolin is separated and purified by SMB （simulated moving bed） chromatography. Purity of sesamin and sesamolin can reach 99.2% and 99.9 %, and they can be recovered by 99.9% and 99.4%, respectively. Concentrations of the extract and raffinate was monitored and periodical change of the concentration was observed on experiment. Effects of non-linear adsorption, dead volume, and temperature on the separation are reviewed by the triangle theory to explain the periodical change of concentration. It is found that dead volume has little effect, and temperature fluctuation significantly affects thc separation by SMB. The temperature seriously affects the robust operation of SMB due to the change of Henry＇s constant, which will change the selectivity and restrain the productivity. Although the productivity in this study is only 0.0416 g/L-hr, the cost of the stationary phase used in this study is much lower than that of packed in analytical column. By using this stationary phase, the authors are still able to separate the mixture of sesamin and sesmolin. This will economically attract attention for the application of SMB to purify bioactive compounds on developing botanical drugs.

Simulated moving bed separation of tocopherol homologues:simulation and experiments

Chromatograms of tocopherol homologues were obtained by a column of analytical size (inner diameter (ID) 0.46 cm cm×10 cm) packed with silica gel. Adsorption isotherms and film mass-transfer coefficient were estimated from the chroma-tograms by using a general rate model, which considers axial dispersion, external mass-transfer and intraparticle diffusion. Based on the obtained isotherms and mass-transfer coefficient, the separation process of tocopherol homologues on simulated moving bed (SMB) was simulated using the same model. According to the simulated results, a mixture of α-, γ-, δ-tocopherols and other impurities was separated on an SMB equipment. The SMB equipment was composed of 8 columns of ID 2 cm×10 cm, with 2 columns in each section. The solid phase was silica gel, and the mobile phase was n-hexane/2-propanol (99/1 by volume). γ-and δ-tocopherols of purity greater than 98% were obtained with recovery greater than 98%. The effects of operating conditions (flow rates and switching time) on the performance of SMB were studied by both simulation and experiments. It was found that all the simulation results were quite close to the experimental results. We conclude that process development and optimization of operating conditions of SMB by simulation are feasible.

Commercial Applications of Paraxylene Adsorbents RAX-2000A and RAX-3000

The RAX series paraxylene （PX） adsorbents RAX-2000A and RAX-3000, are developed by the Sinopec Re- search Institute of Petroleum Processing （RIPP） and manufactured by the Sinopec Catalyst Company. Performance test of RAX-2000A showed that the average purity of the PX product reached 99.81%, with an average PX yield of 98.6% per pass. The new generation of PX adsorbents, RAX-3000 not only retains most advantages of the adsorbent RAX-2000A, but also has higher selective adsorption capacity by at least 8%. The actual unit production capability of the adsorbent RAX- 3000 was increased by about 18%. The RAX series PX adsorbents exhibited good adaptability to unfavorable feedstock containing high ethyl benzene （EB） fraction besides their better mechanical strength. Preliminary test results indicated that compared to the adsorbent RAX-2000A, the A/Fa and D/F relating to the adsorbent RAX-3000 were notably decreased due to the hi^her selective adsorotion canacitv of the adsorbent RAX-3000.

Continuous size fractionation of magnetic nanoparticles by using simulated moving bed chromatography

The size fractionation of magnetic nanoparticles is a technical problem,which until today can only be solved with great effort.Nevertheless,there is an important demand for nanoparticles with sharp size distributions,for example for medical technology or sensor technology.Using magnetic chromatography,we show a promising method for fractionation of magnetic nanoparticles with respect to their size and/or magnetic properties.This was achieved by passing magnetic nanoparticles through a packed bed of fine steel spheres with which they interact magnetically because single domain ferro-/ferrimagnetic nanoparticles show a spontaneous magnetization.Since the strength of this interaction is related to particle size,the principle is suitable for size fractionation.This concept was transferred into a continuous process in this work using a so-called simulated moving bed chromatography.Applying a suspension of magnetic nanoparticles within a size range from 20 to 120 nm,the process showed a separation sharpness of up to 0.52 with recovery rates of 100%.The continuous feed stream of magnetic nanoparticles could be fractionated with a space-time-yield of up to 5 mg/(L∙min).Due to the easy scalability of continuous chromatography,the process is a promising approach for the efficient fractionation of industrially relevant amounts of magnetic nanoparticles.