abstract
A simulated moving bed (SMB) unit was designed to separate oleanolic and ursolic acids, two naturally occurring triterpenoids with structural isomerism, with remarkable nutraceutical and pharmacological properties. A triacontylsilyl silica gel adsorbent (stationary phase of an Acclaim C30 column) was considered and impulse tests with different solvents were performed to select a mobile phase, from which methanol/water 95/5 (%, v/v) emerged as the most suitable. Equilibrium and global mass transport coefficients were then determined through breakthrough experiments using pure compound solutions and the C30 column. Afterwards, these parameters were applied to the simulation of two model binary mixture separations, whose breakthrough curves were also experimentally measured. Finally, the SMB unit was designed and optimized. It was demonstrated that using the packing of an Acclaim C30 column and methanol/water 95/5 (%, v/v) as mobile phase it is possible to separate both acids with purities of 99.9 wt.%, a productivity of 1.705 kg/(m(adsorbent)(3) day), and a configuration of two columns per section (2-2-2-2). The simulated results obtained in this work with the C30 stationary phase represent a significant improvement over literature data.
keywords
SUPERCRITICAL-FLUID EXTRACTION; STATIONARY PHASES; MULTIOBJECTIVE OPTIMIZATION; OLEANOLIC ACID; URSOLIC ACID; LIPOPHILIC EXTRACTIVES; PHENOLIC-COMPOUNDS; BIOMASS RESIDUES; NATURAL-PRODUCTS; OUTER BARKS
subject category
Engineering
authors
Azenha, IS; Aniceto, JPS; Santos, CA; Mendes, A; Silva, CM
our authors
Carlos Manuel Silva
Associate Professor
José P. S. Aniceto
Junior Researcheracknowledgements
This work was developed in the scope of the project CICECO-Aveiro Institute of Materials (FCT Ref. UID/CTM/50011/2019), financed by national funds through the FCT/MCTES and when applicable co-financed by FEDER under the PT2020 Partnership Agreement, and the Multibiorefinery project (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016403). I.S. Azenha acknowledges a PhD grant from Fundacao para Ciencia e a Tecnologia (Portugal) (grant number SFRH/BD/126509/2016) and financial support of Project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006939 (Laboratory for Process Engineering, Environment, Biotechnology and Energy - LEPABE funded by FEDER funds through COMPETE2020 - Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalizacao (POCI). The authors would also like to thank Monica Valega (University of Aveiro) for the continuous support with the HPLC setup.