(8a) Simulated Moving Beds-Principles and Design Tools

Batch adsorption and chromatography processes are highly selective separation techniques. They have been widely used for the analysis of complex mixtures and purification of chemicals, biochemicals, and pharmaceuticals. A continuous adsorption (or “Simulated Moving Bed”) process can have significantly higher yield, higher purity, higher throughput, and lower solvent consumption than batch chromatography. SMB processes have been used for the production of hydrocarbons since 1970’s, high-fructose corn syrup since 1980’s, and chiral pharmaceuticals since 1990’s. SMB, however, has not been widely used for multi-component separation. A major barrier is the lack of efficient methods and tools to design SMB that can recover a product with high purity and high yield from a mixture of three or more components.  A second barrier is the lack of SMB equipment for multi-component separation. This presentation will introduce the fundamental principles of SMB, the methods and tools developed at Purdue to overcome the major barriers, and the applications of the tools in developing a tandem SMB for insulin purification from a ternary mixture.