RECYCLING IN PREPARATIVE LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHY

A comparison is made between the performance achieved in preparative chromatography when using elution, the most usual operating mode of this technique, and the different implementations of recycling. This work is based on the experimental results obtained in the separation of the enantiomers of ketoprofen on a cellulose-based stationary phase, using the various chromatographic modes. It uses also the modeling of non-linear chromatography to compare the different operating modes considered. Theoretical and experimental results are presented and compared. In some cases, it is possible to achieve simultaneously both an increase in the production rate and a decrease in the amount of eluent needed.