The simulated countercurrent moving bed chromatographic reactor

Abstract The simulated countercurrent moving bed chromatographic reactor (SCMCR) is a device for carrying out chemical reaction and separation simultaneously in a fixed bed. It mimics the behavior of a countercurrent moving bed, in which a stream of solids flows countercurrent to an inert fluid and past a stationary reactant inlet, by periodically changing feed locations sequentially along a fixed bed. True countercurrent motion is thus replaced by a periodic motion, while overcoming the problems of solids handling and attrition inherent in moving bed operations, as well as avoiding the flow channeling that would be attendant with scaleup to large column diameters. The present investigations seek to determine to what extent the moving bed reactor advantages of high product purity and favorable equilibrium shifts are retained in SCMCR operations. Two configurations of the SCMCR, a single fixed bed having a series of inlets and outlets along its length, and a series of columns with an inlet or outlet between each, are considered. Model calculations predict that both configurations give high purity product streams and nearly unit conversions of the equilibrium limited reaction.