Selection of a stationary phase for the chromatographic separation of organic acids obtained from bioglycerol oxidation

A screening study of the chromatographic separation of Glyceric Acid (GCA) and Tartronic Acid (TTA) was performed using three different polystyrene-divinylbenzene ion-exchange resins in hydrogen form (Dowex® 50WX-8, Dowex® 50WX-4, Dowex® 50WX-2). The experiments were described by the axial dispersion flow model with the LDF approximation incorporated into the software gPROMS. From the three investigated adsorbents differing by the crosslinking, Dowex® 50WX-2 has presented the higher adsorption capacity, as well as the highest bed efficiency expressed by the number of theoretical plates. The adsorption equilibrium constants were determined from single breakthrough experiments, and a very good agreement between experimental and simulated data was achieved for both single components and binary mixtures. Therefore, the fundamental data determined within this work represents a key contribution to the design of continuous chromatographic processes for the purification of GCA and TTA.