DEVELOPMENT AND OPTIMIZATION OF INDUSTRIAL-SCALE CHROMATOGRAPHY FOR USE IN MANUFACTURING

The selection of design parameters and the optimization of operating p arameters to minimize the total cost for the purpose of improving the economics of chromatographic operations for manufacturing is a challen ging problem. This paper uses a mathematical model to calculate the ef fect of the cost In S/g of product under a number of different conditi ons. The effect of variations of the thermodynamic properties, the sel ectivity and and the column saturation capacity, on the total cost rev eal experimental work done up front to increase their values gives sig nificant returns in lowering the cost. The effects of design parameter s such as the maximum pressure and particle size are investigated show ing that operation at higher pressure with smaller particles results i n lower total cost. The economies of scale for chromatographic operati on are investigated and shpow that the cost capacity curve has an expo nent of 0.53. Lastly, the effect of the cost of the crude on the optim um operating parameters is discussed showing that operation at high yi elds is important when the crude costs are high.