Continuous Industrial-Scale Centrifugal Partition Chromatography with Automatic Solvent System Handling: Concept and Instrumentation

Abstract

Centrifugal partition chromatography (CPC) is an emerging separation technology in pharmaceutical and natural product purifications, reaching recently industrial-scale solutions. Because both the stationary and mobile phases are liquids in CPC, the solvent consumption of such separation processes is considered significant. Thus, automation is highly required in the preparation and recycling of the solvent mixtures for economical (i.e., continuous) CPC operation. Here, we report a feasible solution for this industrial issue, including the concept, algorithm, and instrumentation of solvent system handling. For majority of ternary solvent systems used in CPC separations, the linear correlation between the density and composition of the phases was recognized and utilized during the continuous solvent recycling. Hence, an efficient density-based composition adjustment algorithm was established in a mixer-settler unit using Coriolis flow meters for precise density monitoring of the upper and lower phases of the biphasic liquid system (BLS). In addition, a complete cascade consisting of a buffer, waste, a recycler (evaporator), and mixer-settler units was designed around the industrial-scale CPC device. The proof of concept was demonstrated by sequential industrial-scale CPC separations of a binary model mixture in the n-hexane/methanol/water (5/4/1, v/v/v) solvent system, followed by the purification of a crude steroid active pharmaceutical ingredient performed in the methyl isobutyl ketone/acetone/water (2/2/1, v/v/v) solvent system. The reproducibility of chromatographic performance and the productivity of the mixer-settler and evaporator units were satisfactory, enabling a robust and continuous operation of the developed separation process.