A New Reaction-Separation Unit: The Simulated Moving Bed Reactor

Process intensification is one of the most promising tools for improving current technologies. This requires dealing in most cases with complex systems where many different and often interacting physicochemical phenomena take place simultaneously. Continuous reactive chromatography, implemented through the simulated moving bed reactor technology, represents a novel example of such an intensified process. In this case, only a detailed description of the selective polymer swelling and reaction kinetics enables the modeling and the understanding of the behavior of the chemical production process. The optimization of the unit reveals its major economic limitation to arise from the sorptive properties of the currently available stationary phase. Based on a proper understanding of the unit operation, it is possible to design new stationary phases, tailor-made for specific reacting systems, which allow the performance of the process to be significantly improved.