Simulation of Cefoselis hydrochloride adsorption on macroporous resin in a fixed-bed column using orthogonal collocation

Adsorption operation is of great importance for separation and purification of semi-synthetic cephalosporin compounds in pharmaceutical industry. The adsorption dynamics of Cefoselis hydrochloride (CFH) on XR 920C adsorbent in fixed bed was predicted by the model of modified film-pore diffusion (MFPD). The intraparticle diffusion equation and mass balance equation in fixed bed are discretized into two ordinary differential equations (ODEs) using the method of orthogonal collocation which largely improves the calculation accuracy. The MFPD model parameters including the pore diffusion coefficient (Dp), external mass-transfer coefficient (kf), and the axial dispersion (DL) were estimated. The kf value was calculated by the Carberry equation, in which the effective diffusion coefficient De was fitted based on Crank Model through experimental data. Moreover, three key operating parameters (i.e., initial adsorbate concentration; flow rate of import feed, and bed height of adsorbent) and the corresponded breakthrough curves were systematically studied and optimized. Therefore, this research not only provides valuable experimental data, but also a successfully mathematical model for designing the continuous chromatographic adsorption process of CFH.