Modeling and simulation of liquid-solid circulating fluidized bed ion exchange system for continuous protein recovery

Abstract

Liquid-solid circulating fluidized bed (LSCFB) is an integrated two-column (downcomer and riser) system which can accommodate two separate processes (adsorption and desorption) in the same unit with continuous circulation of the solid particles between the two columns. In this study, a mathematical model based on the assumption of homogeneous fluidization was developed considering hydrodynamics, adsorption-desorption kinetics and liquid-solid mass transfer. The simulation results showed good agreement with the available experimental results for continuous protein recovery. A parametric sensitivity study was performed to better understand the influence of different operating parameters on the BSA adsorption and desorption capacity of the system. The model developed can easily be extended to other applications of LSCFB.