Simulation of continuous preparative chromatography: A case study in MCSGP

Purification of proteins in the pharmaceutical industry is often performed with batch chromatography. For increase of productivity and yield there is a need for continuous chromatography. The purpose of this master thesis was to develop a general simulation toolbox for continuous chromatography that could simulate a defined configuration of moving beds. Recently a process for separation of ternary systems called multicolumn solvent gradient purification process (MCSGP) was developed. This is a six bed arrangement, where the solid phase move countercurrent to the mobile phase after certain periodical time intervals. Optimization of the time between bed rotations showed that long times favored purity, while short times favored yield and productivity. This result follows the same trend as the batch chromatography cycle time.