This is a renewal award for the work of Professor Georges Guiochon at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville for his on-going research in non-linear chromatography. The work, supported by a grant from the Analytical and Surface Chemistry Program, will investigate theoretical and experimental aspects of the operation of chromatographic columns in an overload condition. Working mainly on problems involving the separation of pairs of enantiomers and of protein mixtures, research on the fundamentals of preparative chromatography will be performed. Techniques such as simulated moving bed separations (SMB) will be evaluated. Central to the work is the prediction and optimization of individual band profiles of multicomponent mixtures through insights gained from the thermodynamic behavior and kinetics of mass transfer of these components measured under various conditions. Calculated and experimental band profiles will be compared. The main experimental studies will involve determinations of competitive isotherms, enantiomeric separations by SMB and the determination of mass transfer resistances in protein purifications. This work is in the area of separations science and is concerned with the theoretical and practical operation of chromatographic columns for preparative chemistry. The work will greatly improve our understanding in this area and is of major potential impact on many industries which produce pure compounds such as fine chemicals and pharmaceuticals.
