The Separation of Carbohydrates by Continuous Production Scale Chromatography

Abstract

A review of general chromatographic theory has been made together with a survey of the factors which may affect the performance of larger scale chromatographic columns. The mechanism of the chemiadsorption chromatography employed in this research has been described in detail. Various industrial chromatographic processes used for the refining of sugars have been outlined. The design and construction of a liquid-solid semi-continuous chromatographic refiner, (SCCR) has been reported. The equipment comprised ten 108 mm internal diameter stainless steel columns each containing a packed bed approximately 650 mm in length. Counter-current operation of the mobile and stationary phases was achieved by a programmed sequencing of inlet and outlet valves associated with each column. Commissioning and operation of the SCCR has been reported. An ion exchange resin, Zerolit 225, which was charged in the calcium form, was used as the stationary phase. Deionised water was the mobile phase. For what is believed to be the first time, a complete separation of a fructose-glucose mixture into two 99.9% pure products was achieved continuously in one pass through the equipment. The effects of feed concentration, feed flow rate and change of switch period were investigated...