US 5,198,120 AGranted

Process for fractional separation of multi-component fluid mixture

AssigneeJapan Organo Co., Ltd.

InventorsTakayuki Masuda, Tohru Sonobe, Fumihiko Matsuda, Masaharu Horie

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Abstract

A process for chromatographic fractional separation of a ternary or more fluid feed into at least three fractions according to a simulated moving bed procedure in a system wherein the simulated moving bed packed with an adsorbent is provided with a circulatory channel having a shutoff position where the circulation of the system can be shut off, comprises step (1) of feeding fresh fluid feed into the system on the downstream side of the shutoff position while withdrawing a fraction(s) of a component(s) having a medium affinity for the adsorbent from an adsorption zone(s) located upstream of the shutoff position, which step (1) is repeated alternately with step (2) of separately withdrawing fractions of components fractionated into respective adsorption zones remaining after the step (1) by feeding a fluid desorbent into the system with sequentially shifting the position of feeding the fluid desorbent and the positions of withdrawing enriched fractions, corresponding to the migration of the respective adsorption zones in the downstream direction of circulation, while allowing the circulation of the system and feeding no fresh fluid feed into the system. Step (2) may, if desired, be followed by step (3) of further feeding the desorbent into each of the adsorption zones and separately withdrawing the fractions out of the system while allowing the fluid circulation of the system.

Claims6

Dependent claims

A process for fractional separation of a fluid mixture comprising a number of components into three or more components, which process is carried out in a system wherein a number of bed units packed with an adsorbent are linked with each other in continuous series in such a way as to form a circulatory channel capable of circulation and shutoff, and wherein a fluid feed, or mixture, comprising three or more components having mutually different affinities for said adsorbent is flowed through said number of said bed units to form adsorption zones of the respective components separated from each other in the serial order of the weak to strong affinities thereof for said adsorbent;

and which process comprises repeating a cycle comprising the step (1) of shutting off fluid circulation of said system at a position ("shutoff position") located upstream of an adsorption zone of a predetermined component having a weak affinity for said adsorbent and feeding fresh fluid feed into said system at a position downstream of said shutoff position while withdrawing from said system a fraction enriched with a predetermined component present in adsorption zones located upstream of said shutoff position;
and the step (2) of separately withdrawing enriched fractions of the components from the adsorption zones from which said predetermined component has not been withdrawn in the step (1) by feeding a fluid desorbent into said system from the upstream side of said adsorption zones with sequentially shifting the position of feeding said fluid desorbent and the positions of withdrawing enriched fractions, corresponding to migration of the respective adsorption zones in the downstream direction of circulation, while circulating internal fluid throughout said system and feeding no fresh fluid feed into said system.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.