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A Finite Element Method for Spatially Resolved Simulation of Packed Bed Chromatography
Author(s) -
Püttmann Andreas,
Nicolai Mike,
Behr Marek,
von Lieres Eric
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
pamm
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1617-7061
DOI - 10.1002/pamm.201310248
Subject(s) - simulated moving bed , packed bed , chromatography , adsorption , mass transfer , massively parallel , porosity , column chromatography , column (typography) , chemistry , process (computing) , flow (mathematics) , materials science , computer science , mechanics , engineering , physics , connection (principal bundle) , mechanical engineering , organic chemistry , parallel computing , operating system
Abstract Packed bed chromatography is among the most important unit operations in bio‐chemical process engineering for purifying target molecules from contaminants. A liquid solution of different species is pumped through the chromatography column, which is filled with porous particles (beads). Solute molecules can adsorb to the inner surfaces of these beads with different affinities which leads to different retention times in the column and consequently facilitates the desired separation. We present a stabilized space‐time finite element scheme to solve for fluid flow and mass transfer in miniaturized chromatography columns, which are used in the design and optimization of industrial‐scale applications. Our method can accurately handle realistic size systems with more than 10 8 degrees of freedom on massively parallel computing facilities. It can also be applied for simulating sections of larger chromatographic beds in lab‐ and process‐scale columns. (© 2013 Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)