Supervisory system for automated simulated moving bed (SMB) liquid chromatography (LC)

Praziquantel (PZQ) is a racemic mixture prescribed for Schistosomiasis disease treatment. However, only the enantiomer (R)-PZQ presents demonstrated efficiency against infirmity; the (S)-PZQ causes sickness and vomiting due to its bitter taste. The simulated moving bed chromatography system (SMB) is a well-established separation process applied in many branches of the chemical industry from drug purification stages to food processing systems. In order to implement and operate an SMB for the PZQ separation, allowing the production of medication with proven efficiency and without side effects, a LabVIEW supervisory system was developed. The automated software remotely controlled all equipment in the operational unit, such as automatic pumps, multi-position valves for flow rate alignments, and a chiral detector. Two experiments were conducted to characterize the system's operational properties and efficiency. The first set of results demonstrated that the data acquisition programming retrieved information constantly, evidencing a direct correlation between the internal liquid pressure and the valve system position, with mean pressure values of approximately 50 bar. The second set of results demonstrated the SMB efficiency, with the raffinate stream producing (R)-PZQ of 100% purity.