Synthesis of chemical compounds oftentimes produce a mixture of desired and undesired components. The ease of purification and recovery of the desired component more often than not determines the viability of the production technology. Simulated Moving Bed (SMB) technology is a continuous purification and separation technique with better performance (less solvent consumption and higher throughput) than traditional batch chromatography. SMB is a continuous separation technology which can be used to achieve the desired product purity with considerably lower power and raw material consumption. A lot of research and development is undergoing in the SMB technology which is enabling the search for more economical and carbon neutral ways of producing industrial chemicals. SMB has proven to be of great assistance in extracting products produced in biorefinery fermentation processes in an economical and energy efficient fashion. This chapter outlines the various processes the author has developed using SMB technology, its use in biorefineries, and prospective use in the future.

Waste generated during regeneration of Ion Exchanger (IX), used for deionizing water, needs to be neutralized before it can be discharged back to a clean water source. An efficient and novel process is disclosed that minimizes the neutralization volume and chemicals required for pH adjustment. The currently employed neutralization setups in the industry are environmentally unsustainable. Various neutralization setups were studied for treating waste generated from IX regeneration. From the collected plant data, the treatment requirements of waste streams generated during regeneration of IX beds were analyzed. An efficient neutralization setup was developed to lower the operating and capital costs by eliminating the need of some equipment and by lowering the neutralization volume. The new process results in considerable savings compared to currently used processes in the industry and is environmentally benign. The improved neutralization setup proposed in this work has achieved a 63% reduction in volume of IX regeneration waste stream; a 62% reduction in the capital cost; 23% reduction in chemical usage; and a 55% reduction in operating cost. The achieved improvements are quite significant, which are bound to immensely benefit the chemical industries that require demineralized water for their operation.

Debottlenecking and estimating fouling in a clarifier piping system for the expansion of an existing chemical manufacturing facility in the U.S. Gulf Coast was analyzed and modified. The existing clarifier piping system fitting data was gathered for the real-world operation from the field. This data was used in the Applied Flow Technology (AFT) Fathom, a program used to study hydraulic systems. The hydraulic results with and without recommended piping modifications along with changing piping roughness factors were also analyzed. The two piping roughness factor cases tested were roughness of 0.152 mm and fouling of 25.4 mm. The AFT Fathom results showed that without piping modifications and specifying fouling of 25.4 mm, required flow cannot be established due to insufficient driving force for liquid movement. The measured field flow data confirmed that the reduced clarifier capacity was due to high pressure losses in the hydraulic system. Also, it was found that the existing clarifier nozzle was inadequately designed originally, and replacing the nozzle showed an increase in the clarifier capacity due to reduced entrainment of the air. These modifications were further adapted in the plant expansion and operations were validated using the actual plant data. The plant data matched closely with the estimated capacities of the clarifiers. AFT Fathom hydraulic software was effective in predicting a fouling severity in the clarifier piping system and debottlenecking of the clarifier capacity was done. The conclusions derived from this study can be used all over the world where clarifiers are utilized.

As part of the expansion of a new chemical manufacturing facility, the debottlenecking of an existing brine system for an increase in soft water demand and the usefulness of the method was studied. Mathematical equations were used to estimate the salt loading profile. The effect of increasing soft water demand on the brine system was studied using parameters such as the amount of salt, the number of refills of brine tank, the brine pump run time, the number of days for the salt pit to empty, and the number of brine truck deliveries. The generalized mathematical equations derived and presented in this study can be used for any debottlenecking studies. The study showed that the existing brine pit and brine pumps can be reused for the future brine demand. The study showed with a good truck delivery logistics and a robust pit maintenance program, the number of regenerations can be increased while utilizing the existing brine pit system. The risk level remained the same as in existing pit systems since an increase in the frequency of pit maintenance was used to account for higher brine levels in the pit. The study methodology can be utilized for similar brine and softener systems in plant expansion operations to avoid a new pit system and to reduce capital costs. Brine seepage through the new concrete walls was avoided effectively. A polyvinyl chloride above ground tank system is recommended for brine service in all future projects where feasible.

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