A laboratory-scale simulated moving bed (SMB) was designed and tested for the separation of paclitaxel, a powerful anti-cancer agent known as Taxol@, from impurities of a plant tissue culture (PTC) broth. The innovative strategy of a pseudo-binary model, where mixtures A and B were treated as single solutes A and B, was used in the linear standing wave analysis to fix the SMB operating parameters for a multicomponent and complex system. Linear standing wave design was used to specify the zone flow rates and the switching time for the laboratory-scale SMB unit, with two steps of separation. The SMB consists of four packed columns, where each column is 12.5 cm in length and 1.5 cm in diameter. Two sequential separation steps were used to recover paclitaxel from a small feed batch (less than one liter). Placlitaxel was recovered from the complex plant tissue culture broth in 82% yield and 72% purity.

Phenylalanine (Phe) and tyrosine (Tyr) are two of the twenty amino acids in proteins; they are classified as aromatic amino acids, because both have a benzene ring in their structures. These amino acids are important in the synthesis of several biologically active amines, such as beta-endorphin, a neurotransmitter. Amino acids can be separated by ion-exchange chromatography. In this case, it is important that fixed-bed adsorber design adequately predict the breakthrough curve. This work presents a mathematical model for both fluid and porous phases. In the solution proposed for this model the liquid-phase concentration inside the particles is solved analytically and is related to the liquid-phase concentration in the bed using Duhamel's theorem. The solution for liquid-phase concentration in the bed is then solved numerically instead of analytically. The basic mass transfer parameters are from the literature. The results from the model are compared with those obtained experimentally using Phe and Tyr diluted in aqueous solutions in a fixed bed of PVP (poly-4-vinylpyridine) resin.