A theoretical study of multicomponent radial flow chromatography

Abstract-A theoretical study of radial flow chromatography was carried out based on a general nonlinear multicomponent rate model which considers radial dispersion. external mass transfer, intraparticle diffusion. and nonlinear multicomponent isotherms. Radial dispersion and mass transfer coefficients were treated as variables which are dependent on the radial coordinate of the radial flow column. The model was solved numerically by using the finite element method and the orthogonal collocation method for the discretization of partial differential equations and Gear's stiff method for the solution of the resulting ordinary differential equation system. Computer simulations were carried out for various multicomponent chromatographic operations. Dispersion and mass transfer effects were investigated. The question of whether radial dispersion and mass transfer coefficients should be treated as variables was discussed. The difference between inward flow and outward flow in radial flow chromatography and the comparison between conventional axial flow chromatography and radial flow chromatography were studied. Langmuir isotherms were used in this work