Theoretical Investigation of the Nonlinear General Rate Model with the Bi-Langmuir Adsorption Isotherm Using Core-Shell Adsorbents

Core-shell particles enable the separation of intricate mixtures in a highly efficient and rapid manner. The porous shell particles increased the separation efficiency with expedited flow rates due to an abatement in the pore volume accessible for longitudinal diffusion and a decrease in diffusion path length. This study focuses on the numerical approximation of a nonlinear isothermal general rate model applied to stationary bed columns that are replete with inert core adsorbents featuring double adsorption sites. The transport of solute in heterogeneous porous media can be modeled by a nonlinear convection acquiescent partial differential equation system together with a specific nonlinear algebraic relation: the bi-Langmuir adsorption isotherm. Therefore, it is important to develop accurate and reliable numerical techniques that can perform accurate numerical simulations of these models. We extended and implemented a second-order, semidiscrete, high-resolution finite volume method to simulate the governing equations of the model. Single solute flow and multi component mixture flows are assessed through a series of numerical experiments to theoretically illustrate the repercussions of intraparticle diffusion, film mass resistance, axial dispersion, and the size of the inert core radius upon simulated elution curves. Standard performance criteria are assessed to determine the optimal core radius fraction range for optimizing the separation performance.

Dynamic modeling of manganese removal in a pyrolusite fluidized bed contactor

A novel pyrolusite fluidized bed (PFB) contactor, which we recently developed for dissolved manganese (Mn(II)) removal through surface adsorption and subsequent oxidation by free chlorine, was modeled in this study. The hydrodynamic behavior of the filter media and water in the fluidized bed was described by the axial dispersion model. The model incorporated the effects of axial mixing in the liquid and solid phases, mass transfer resistance in a laminar fluid boundary layer surrounding a media grain, and a second order oxidation rate expression. The experimental data from lab-scale and field pilot-scale contactors was adopted for the model development and its validation. For the former, the data was employed to estimate the oxidation rate constant, the mass transfer coefficient, and the axial solid phase dispersion coefficient for the model. The model simulations matched the experimental data with less than 20% error across a wide range of Mn(II) and free chlorine concentrations and hydraulic loading rates that might be encountered in a drinking water treatment plant. The sensitivity analysis showed that the time to breakthrough is most sensitive to the adsorption isotherm constants and the oxidation rate constant. These observations indicate that the alluded parameters mainly control the performance of the PFB contactor as well as the process stability. Finally, a sample application of the model to acquire operational inputs was illustrated by analyzing the effect of free chlorine concentration on Mn(II) removal performance and breakthrough time within a PFB contactor.

Evaluation and characterization of axial distribution in expanded bed: II. Liquid mixing and local effective axial dispersion

Expanded bed adsorption (EBA) is a promising technology to capture proteins directly from unclarified feedstock. In order to better understand liquid mixing along the bed height in expanded beds, an in-bed sampling method was used to measure residence time distribution at different bed heights. A 2cm diameter nozzle column was tested with agarose raw beads (3% crosslinked agarose containing tungsten carbide). Two settled bed heights (11.5 and 23.1cm) with different expansion factors (1.4-2.6) were investigated and the number of theoretical plates (N), the height equivalent of theoretical plate (HETP) and the local effective axial dispersion coefficient (Dax) were calculated for each bed height-defined zone. The effects of expansion factor, settled bed height and mobile phase were evaluated. The results showed that N increased with the increase of expansion factors, but Dax was unaffected under fixed bed heights. Dax and HETP were found similar as a function of relative bed height for two settled bed heights tested. Higher mobile phase viscosity resulted in stronger axial dispersion. In addition, the local effective Dax under the expansion factor near 2.0 had a different profile which showed minimum values at 0.6-0.8 relative bed height, and the potential mechanism was discussed. These results would be useful for the characterization of axial dispersion and modeling protein adsorption in expanded beds under varying operation conditions.

Experimental characterization of next-generation expanded-bed adsorbents for capture of a recombinant protein expressed in high-cell-density yeast fermentation

Expanded-bed adsorption (EBA) can be particularly useful in protein recovery from high-cell-density fermentation broth where conventional methods for harvest and clarification, such as continuous centrifugation and depth filtration, demand long processing times and are associated with high costs. In this work, the use of next-generation high-particle-density EBA adsorbents, including two mixed-mode resins, for the direct capture of a recombinant protein expressed in yeast at high cell densities is evaluated. Using classical experimental approaches and under different conditions (pH, salt, etc.), Langmuir isotherm parameters for these resins are obtained along with pore diffusivity values. Additional batch adsorption studies with Fastline® MabDirect, the resin that demonstrated the highest static binding capacity for the recombinant protein of interest under the conditions evaluated in this study, indicate competitive binding of nontarget proteins and approximately a 30% reduction in equilibrium binding capacity to 50 mg/mL settled bed in the presence of a 5%-10% cell concentration. Packed-bed (PB) dynamic binding capacities for the MabDirect resin (25-40 mg/mL PB) were significantly higher than for the Fastline® HSA resin and for the MabDirect MM resin in expanded-bed mode (5-10 mg/mL settled bed). Bed expansion behavior for the mMabDirect MM resin along with process yield and eluate purity are identified as a function of linear velocity and cell density, demonstrating process feasibility for pilot scale use.

Evaluation and characterization of axial distribution in expanded bed. I. Bead size, bead density and local bed voidage

Expanded bed adsorption (EBA) is an innovative chromatography technology that allows the adsorption of target proteins directly from unclarified feedstock, and the most important property of an expanded bed is the perfectly classified fluidization of resin beads in the column. Due to the variation of both size and density of bulk resin beads, the axial distributions of bead size, bead density and bed voidage are the inherent characteristics of an expanded bed. However, the understanding on these properties is quite limited. In this study, raw beads (3% crosslinked agarose containing tungsten carbide) and 2cm-diameter nozzle column were used as the model system and mean bead size, bead density and local bed voidage along the bed height were measured systematically with the in-bed sampling method for two settled bed heights (11.5 and 23.1cm) and different expansion factors (1.4-2.6). With the increase of bed height, mean bead size and wet density of the beads decreased from 140 to 90μm and from 4 to 2g/ml, respectively. The local bed voidage increased from 0.6 to 0.9 with the increasing bed height. The relative bed height and relative bed voidage were introduced to describe the general rule of axial distribution. Some empirical equations were used to correlate the mean bead size, bead density and local bed voidage along the bed height with the standard deviations of 10.6%, 6.1% and 5.5, respectively. In addition, a general equation was proposed to predict the axial distributions of bead size, bead density and local bed voidage in the column with standard deviations less than 10% for most of the experimental data, which would be useful for the characterization of resin beads distribution in an expanded bed under varying operation conditions.

Modeling of ion exchange expanded-bed chromatography for the purification of C-phycocyanin

This work is focused on the experimental evaluation and mathematical modeling of ion exchange expanded-bed chromatography for the purification of C-phycocyanin from crude fermentative broth containing Spirulina platensis cells. Experiments were carried out in different expansion degree to evaluate the process performance. The experimental breakthrough curves were used to estimate the mass transfer and kinetics parameters of the proposed model, using the Particle Swarm Optimization algorithm (PSO). The proposed model satisfactorily fitted the experimental data. The results from the model application pointed out that the increase in the initial bed height does not influence the process efficiency, however enables the operation of expanded-bed column at high volumetric flow rates, improving the productivity. It was also shown that the use of mathematical modeling was a good and promising tool for the optimization of chromatographic processes.

Mathematical modeling and simulation of inulinase adsorption in expanded bed column

A mathematical model for an expanded bed column was developed to predict breakthrough curves for inulinase adsorption on Streamline SP ion-exchange adsorbent, using a crude fermentative broth with cells as the feedstock. The kinetics and mass transfer parameters were estimated using the PSO (particle swarm optimization) heuristic algorithm. The parameters were estimated for each expansion degree (ED) using three breakthrough curves at initial inulinase concentrations of 65.6UmL(-1). In sequence, the model parameters for an ED of 2.5 were validated using the breakthrough curve at an initial concentration of 114.4UmL(-1). The applicability of the validated model in process optimization was investigated, using the model as a process simulator and experimental design methodology to optimize the column and process efficiencies. The results demonstrated the usefulness of this methodology for expanded bed adsorption processes.

Mechanistic analysis on the effects of salt concentration and pH on protein adsorption onto a mixed-mode adsorbent with cation ligand

Streamline Direct HST is a new kind of mixed-mode adsorbent with cation exchange ligand, especially developed for the expanded bed adsorption process, which can capture target protein directly from the moderate ionic strength feedstock without the need of dilution or other additives. In this study, the isotherm adsorption behaviors and the isocratic retention factors of bovine serum albumin (BSA) on Streamline Direct HST were measured, and the corresponding adsorption mechanisms were also described. The results indicated that Streamline Direct HST shows the typical property of salt-independent adsorption and the maximum binding capacity of BSA occurs near the isoelectric point of BSA. When there are some amounts of electrostatic repulsion protein-adsorbent interactions, the multilayer adsorption could be found, and high salt concentration does not favor the adsorption of protein. A patch-controlled adsorption process and an oriented adsorption model are proposed for describing the adsorption behaviors under electrostatic repulsion condition.

Expanded bed adsorption/desorption of proteins with Streamline Direct CST I adsorbent

Streamline Direct CST I is a new type of ion exchanger with multi-modal functional groups, specially designed for an expanded bed adsorption (EBA) process, which can capture directly the proteins from the high ionic strength feedstocks with a high binding capacity. In this study, an experimental study is carried out for two-component proteins (BSA and myoglobin) competitive adsorption and desorption in an expanded bed packed with Streamline Direct CST I. Based on the measurements of the single- and two-component bovine serum albumin (BSA)/myoglobin adsorption isotherm on Streamline Direct CST I, the binding and elution conditions for the whole EBA process are selected; and then frontal analysis for a longer timescale and column displacement experiments in a fixed bed (XK16/20 column) are carried out to evaluate the two-component proteins (BSA and myoglobin) competitive adsorption and displacement on Streamline Direct CST I. Finally, the feasibility of capturing both BSA and myoglobin by an expanded bed packed with Streamline Direct CST I is addressed in a Streamline 50 column packed with 300 mL Streamline Direct CST I.