Simulated Moving Bed Technology: Overview and Use in Biorefineries

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.

Applicant hierarchical fuzzy controller for concentration control of simulated moving bed

Simulated moving bed (SMB) is a kind of continuous process which can increase the efficiency of adsorbents in the adsorbent bed. It contains several sectors of flow rate, the switching time of valves and many other possible influencing variables, moreover, these parameters are highly sensitive, so it is very difficult to achieve precise prediction and control. Model predictive control and PID controller are often used in industrial system. Model predictive control needs a lot of accurate industry experience data, and PID controller depends on the selection of control parameters. Therefore, SMB needs an intelligent controller to bypass those complex mechanisms and parameter adjustment processes. This paper we propose the hierarchical fuzzy controller fuzzy controller which is applied to the SMB system to observe the final concentration. Compared with the PID and MPC controller, it is found that the hierarchical fuzzy controller can control good without knowing the system parameters too accurately.