Sequential Centrifugal Partition Chromatography Separation under Reduced Product Purity Requirements: Selection of the Operating Parameters

Sequential centrifugal partition chromatography (sCPC) is a two-column continuous cyclic liquid-liquid chromatography process designed to separate mixtures into two products. This study investigates the application of sCPC for separating binary mixtures under reduced product purity requirements. Assuming instantaneous equilibrium between the two liquid phases, a short-cut method is proposed to define the sCPC operating parameter regions for achieving complete separation, as well as operating regions where one or neither component is pure. The Martin and Synge’s model was used to simulate the separation process performance in each of these regions in the presence of dispersive effects. The findings from the simulation study were experimentally validated using a binary mixture of methyl and propyl paraben with the n-heptane/ethyl acetate/methanol/water 1/1/1/1, v/v/v/v (Arizona N) solvent system. The proposed method facilitates the selection of sCPC process operating parameters for specific product purities requirements, and it is extendable to other pseudobinary mixtures and solvent systems.