Experimental evaluation of the effect of a modified port‐location mode on the performance of a three‐zone simulated moving‐bed process for the separation of valine and isoleucine

The removal of isoleucine from valine has been a key issue in the stage of valine crystallization, which is the final step in the valine production process in industry. To address this issue, a three‐zone simulated moving‐bed (SMB) process for the separation of valine and isoleucine has been developed previously. However, the previous process, which was based on a classical port‐location mode, had some limitations in throughput and valine product concentration. In this study, a three‐zone SMB process based on a modified port‐location mode was applied to the separation of valine and isoleucine for the purpose of making a marked improvement in throughput and valine product concentration. Computer simulations and a lab‐scale process experiment showed that the modified three‐zone SMB for valine separation led to >65% higher throughput and >160% higher valine concentration compared to the previous three‐zone SMB for the same separation.