Kinetic and equilibrium study of the enantioseparation of fenoprofen in a batch setup

The bed voidage, axial dispersion, and kinetic and isotherm parameters for the chromatographic enantioseparation of racemic Fenoprofen, using cellulose ester as the chiral stationary phase and 2-propanol/hexane/acetyl alcohol as the mobile phase, were evaluated by moment analyses on the basis of equilibrium theory and the linear driving force model. The peak-fitting method was used to identify the coefficients of the competitive Langmuir isotherm for both enantiomers. For this reason and for the validation of the model parameters, a simulation program was developed. The simulated results describe the experimental data well. On the basis of the isotherm parameters and the equilibrium theory, the process region for the simulated moving bed (SMB) process was identified. Changes of the process region will be discussed by considering fluctuations in the feed concentration and uncertainties in the determined capacity factor.