Separation of components

Separation of components with a low concentration. Distillation is not well suited to the separation of products which form a low concentration in the feed mixture. Adsorption and absorption are both effective alternative means. 

Membrane Sep r tion. The separation of components ofhquid milk products can be accompHshed with semipermeable membranes by either ultrafiltration (qv) or hyperfiltration, also called reverse osmosis (qv) (30). With ultrafiltration (UF) the membrane selectively prevents the passage of large molecules such as protein. In reverse osmosis (RO) different small, low molecular weight molecules are separated. Both procedures require that pressure be maintained and that the energy needed is a cost item. The materials from which the membranes are made are similar for both processes and include cellulose acetate, poly(vinyl chloride), poly(vinyHdene diduoride), nylon, and polyamide (see AFembrane technology). Membranes are commonly used for the concentration of whey and milk for cheesemaking (31). For example, membranes with 100 and 200 p.m are used to obtain a 4 1 reduction of skimmed milk. 

The principle of azeotropic distillation depends on the abiHty of a chemically dissimilar compound to cause one or both components of a mixture to boil at a temperature other than the one expected. Thus, the addition of a nonindigenous component forms an azeotropic mixture with one of the components of the mixture, thereby lowering the boiling point and faciHtating separation by distillation. The separation of components of similar volatiHty may become economical if an entrainer can be found that effectively changes the relative volatiHty. It is also desirable that the entrainer be reasonably cheap, stable, nontoxic, and readily recoverable from the components. In practice, it is probably the ready recoverabiHty that limits the appHcation of extractive and azeotropic distillation. 

Usually not favorable for separation of components that show similar Hquid-phase behavior, ie, steroisomers, homologous series, iso-notmA—neo isomers components to be separated must have some different functional group for MSA to affect Hquid-phase behavior differently. 

Usually not favorable for separation of components which show similar Hquid-phase behavior. 

The design of a plate tower for gas-absorption or gas-stripping operations involves many of the same principles employed in distillation calculations, such as the determination of the number of theoretical plates needed to achieve a specified composition change (see Sec. 13). Distillation differs from gas absorption in that it involves the separation of components based on the distribution of the various substances between a gas phase and a hquid phase when all the components are present in Doth phases. In distillation, the new phase is generated From the original feed mixture by vaporization or condensation of the volatile components, and the separation is achieved by introducing reflux to the top of the tower. 

Fraetionation dissoeiation extraetion involves both the chemical reaction and the fractionation scheme for the separation of components by their difference in dissociation constants as described by Colby [in Hanson (ed.). Recent Advances in Liquid-Liquid Extraction, Pergamon, New York, 1971, chap. 4]. 

The separation of components by liquid-liquid extraction depends primarily on the thermodynamic equilibrium partition of those components between the two liquid phases. Knowledge of these partition relationships is essential for selecting the ratio or extraction solvent to feed that enters an extraction process and for evaluating the mass-transfer rates or theoretical stage efficiencies achieved in process equipment. Since two liquid phases that are immiscible are used, the thermodynamic equilibrium involves considerable evaluation of nonideal solutions. In the simplest case a feed solvent F contains a solute that is to be transferred into an extraction solvent S. 

For a symmetrical separation of component h from c, Brian Staged Cascades in Chemical Processing, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1972) reported that the ratio of wash solvent to extraction solvent W /S should be set equal to the geometric mean of the two slopes of the equilibrium lines [Eq. (15-35)]. 

Separation of components in solution. This includes the ordi-naiy objectives of liquid extrac tion, in which the constituents of a solution are separated by causing their unequal distribution between two insoluble liquids, the washing of a liquid with another to remove small... 

Purification of a chemical species by solidification from a liquid mixture can be termed either solution crystallization or ciystallization from the melt. The distinction between these two operations is somewhat subtle. The term melt crystallization has been defined as the separation of components of a binaiy mixture without addition of solvent, but this definition is somewhat restrictive. In solution crystallization a diluent solvent is added to the mixture the solution is then directly or indirec tly cooled, and/or solvent is evaporated to effect ciystallization. The solid phase is formed and maintained somewhat below its pure-component freezing-point temperature. In melt ciystallization no diluent solvent is added to the reaction mixture, and the solid phase is formed by cooling of the melt. Product is frequently maintained near or above its pure-component freezing point in the refining sec tion of the apparatus. 

Carbon soot from resistive heating of a carbon rod in a partial helium atmosphere (0.3bar) under specified conditions is extracted with boiling C H or toluene, filtered and the red-brown soln evapd to give crystalline material in 14% yield which is mainly a mixture of fullerenes C q and C70. Chromatographic filtration of the crude mixture with allows no separation of components, but some separation was observed on silica gel... 

Another family of techniques is chromatography (Carnahan 1993), which can be applied to gases, liquids or gels this postwar technique depends typically upon the separation of components, most commonly volatile ones, in a moving gas stream. 

The process of distillation is aimed at the separation of components from a liquid mixture. This process depends on the differences in boiling points of the individual components. Also, depending on the concentrations of the components present, the liquid mixture will have different boiling point characteristics. This means that distillation processes depends on the vapor pressure characteristics of liquid mixtures. 

Multi-column switching can be an effective approach for the determination of high and low concentrations of sample components in complex mixtures. This is a very powerful technique for the analytical and preparative separation of components... 

D-Xylulose 5-phosphate (ii-threo-2-pentulose 5-phosphate, XP) stands as an important metabolite of the pentose phosphate pathway, which plays a key fimction in the cell and provides intermediates for biosynthetic pathways. The starting compound of the pathway is glucose 6-phosphate, but XP can also be formed by direct phosphorylation of D-xylulose with li-xylulokinase. Tritsch et al. [114] developed a radiometric test system for the measurement of D-xylulose kinase (XK) activity in crude cell extracts. Aliquots were spotted onto silica plates and developed in n-propyl alcohol-ethyl acetate-water (6 1 3 (v/v) to separate o-xylose/o-xylulose from XP. Silica was scraped off and determined by liquid scintillation. The conversion rate of [ " C]o-xylose into [ " C]o-xylulose 5-phosphate was calculated. Some of the works devoted to the separation of components necessary while analyzing enzyme activity are presented in Table 9.8. 

Other factors that can influence the separability of components of complex natural mixtures, such as adsorbent particle size and layer thickness, are similar to those used in analytical TLC. Mostly, adsorbents of wide dispersion of particle size — 5 to 40 pm and layers of 0.5 to 1 mm thickness — are used. Although the capacities of layers increase with their thickness, the separation efficiency decreases for thickness above 1.5 mm. Commercially available precoated preparative plates (e.g., silica, alumina, and RP2 plates) with fluorescence indicators and plates with preadsorbent zones are more convenient and commonly used. 

The charge density at any point is X, the sum being over species of both phases. Note that no geographical separation of components of the phases is required, anticipating that, in the real system, it may not be possible to divide the system such that all the components of phase A lie on one side of a geometrical surface and all the components of phase B on the other. It is necessary only to identify each component as belonging to one phase or the other. In a geographical separation, one would write... 

Solid phase extraction (SPE) involves the separation of components of samples in solution through their selective interaction with and retention by a solid, particulate sorbent. SPE depends on differences in the affinities of the various components of the sample for the sorbent. The mechanisms of the interactions are virtually identical to the sorption processes that form the basis of liquid chromatographic separations (p. 80). The choice of solvent, the pH and ionic strength of aqueous solutions, and the chemical nature of the sorbent surface, especially its polarity, are all of importance in controlling the selectivity and efficiency of an extraction. 

GC-GC-FTIR is similar to the one described previously except that the separated components are fed into an FTIR cell for identification. To effect a more complete separation of components, two different GC columns are used for instance, a 5% phenyl/phenyl-methyl silicone column might be followed by a 50% phenyl/phenyl-methyl silicone column [12],... 

Release testing can be used to demonstrate the separation of components such as these in Fig. 13.25. 

Fig. 17.11. Bottom CGE separation of components of poly U (sigma) in 25% pluronic F127. Top Note the resolution of two contaminants between each of the oligonucleotides from about 15 to 27 nucleotides long in this expanded section of the bottom electropherogram. Electrophoresis was performed in 25% pluronic F127 in tris-borate-EDTA buffer (90 mM tris, 90 mM boric acid, 2 mM Na EDTA, pH 8.3.) (25°C, 500 V cm-1, effective column length 30 cm). Reprinted with permission from Ref. [82],...

Also, membranes from blends of PVA/Poly(aerylie acid) [PAcr.Ac.] show a selective permeability against different components of a liquid mixture. This property of membranes makes them useful for the separation of components from liquid mixtures by the pervaporation method, i.e., for methanol dehydration. 

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