title: Three-column intermittent simulated moving bed chromatography: 2. Experimental implementation for the separation of Tröger's Base.
abstract: The three-column intermittent simulated moving bed (3C-ISMB) process has been presented in the first part of this series [1]. A theoretical comparative analysis of the new process to intermittent simulated moving bed (I-SMB) demonstrated successfully the potential of the 3C-ISMB technology. Particularly, 3C-ISMB was shown to substantially outperform I-SMB in terms of productivity whilst maintaining high purity specifications and without significantly sacrificing solvent consumption. Moreover, we demonstrated the applicability of Triangle Theory for 3C-ISMB design, which is an important advantage compared to other modified SMB schemes. In the present work we report on the experimental implementation of the 3C-ISMB technology demonstrating the simplicity of retrofitting an existing SMB or I-SMB plant. Moreover, we perform an experimental comparative analysis studying the well-known separation of Tröger's Base enantiomers in pure ethanol on Chiralpak AD™. In a comprehensive series of experimental runs, each examining three different modes of operation, applying total feed concentrations ranging from 5 g/l to 17.4 g/l, we assess and compare the separation performances of both conventional I-SMB and 3C-ISMB. This series of experiments successfully demonstrates that 3C-ISMB delivers the same high purity levels as conventional I-SMB whilst significantly outperforming the conventional process in terms of productivity; in fact an increase of more than 80% is achieved.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Process Engineering, ETH Zurich, Sonneggstrasse 3, CH-8092 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jermann
authors.affiliation: Institute of Process Engineering, ETH Zurich, Sonneggstrasse 3, CH-8092 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alberti
authors.affiliation: Institute of Process Engineering, ETH Zurich, Sonneggstrasse 3, CH-8092 Zurich, Switzerland. Electronic address: marco.mazzotti@ipe.mavt.ethz.ch.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mazzotti
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption; D001392:Azocines / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid / Q000379:methods*; D000431:Ethanol; D012997:Solvents; D013237:Stereoisomerism
chemical_list: D001392:Azocines; D012997:Solvents; D000431:Ethanol; C083830:Troeger's base
keywords: 3C-ISMB; I-SMB; Separation of enantiomers; Simulated moving bed chromatography; Three-zone SMB