• KSBB Journal
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.192-196
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• 2005

Chromatography has been a method of choice in the separation of complex biological mixtures for the analytical purpose in particular for the last half of century. In current years, chromatographic method extends its use to the preparative separation where the productivity per resin amount and solvent use become a matter of concern. Recently, simulated moving bed (SMB) method which claims high separation efficiency of the ideal counter-current moving bed chromatography has become a workhorse of preparative separation. SMB technology was developed in the early 1960s for large-scale hydrocarbon separation by UOP and approximately 120 Sorbex units have been licensed to date. Recently, SMB separation technology has been successfully extended from hydrocarbons and sugars to fine chemicals, particularly biochemicals, from laboratory to pilot to production plant. In this paper, the current status of SMB and its modifications were reviewed.