A rotating annular chromatograph for continuous metal separations and recovery

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Multicomponent liquid chromatographic separations have been achieved by using a slowly rotating annular bed of sorbent material. By continuously introducing the feed material to be separated at a stationary point at the top of the bed and eluent everywhere else around the annulus, elution chromatography occurs. The rotation of the sorbent bed causes the separated components to appear as helical bands, each of which has a characteristic, stationary exit point; hence, the separation process is truly continuous. The concept has been developed primarily on a 279-mm-diam by 0.6-m-long device with a 12.7-mm-wide annulus. The effect of annulus width and diameter has recently been studied using the same device with a 50.8-mm-wide annulus and another 0.6-m-long chromatograph with an 89-mm diameter and annulus widths of 6.4, 12.7, and 22.2 mm. These columns have been constructed of Plexiglas and typically operate at a gauge pressure of 175 kPa. To further study the effect of size and pressure, a new 445-mm-diam by 1-m-long column with a 31.8-mm-wide annulus has been fabricated. Its metal construction allows preparative-scale operation with a wide variety of liquids at pressures to 1.3 MPa. Three metal recovery systems have been explored: (i) separation of iron and aluminum in ammonium sulfate-sulfuric acid solutions; (ii) separation of hafnium from zirconium in sulfuric acid solutions; and (iii) the separation of copper, nickel, and cobalt in ammonium carbonate solutions. This last system simulates the leach liquor of the Caron process for recovering nickel and cobalt from laterite ores. It has been studied, using similar conditions, on each of the chromatographs, and the results demonstrate the effect of column dimensions on the quality and quantity of the separation.