Separation of a binary mixture by sequential centrifugal partition chromatography.

Sequential centrifugal partition chromatography (sCPC) is a novel continuous cyclic liquid-liquid chromatographic separation technology. Each cycle of the process comprises two steps, which differ by the liquid phase used as mobile phase (upper or lower phase) and its flow direction. The feed is introduced continuously in the unit and two product streams are collected alternately, in each step of the cycle. In this work, the sCPC was modeled using the stage (cell) model. The model was used to simulate a separation of a model binary mixture consisting of pyrocatechol and hydroquinone. The solutes distribution constants, system hydrodynamics and mass transfer parameters were determined experimentally and implemented in the model. Furthermore, a parameter study (variation of the feed concentration and step times) was performed by experiments and simulation. A recently developed method was used to select the operating parameters of the sCPC unit.