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International Society for Industrial Process Tomography

11th World Congress on Industrial Process Tomography

An Electrical Resistance Tomography based Smart Chromatography Column System

Hsin-Yu Wei1*, Robert Grinstead2

1Industrial Tomography Systems Ltd,  Manchester, United Kingdom

2GlaxoSmithKline Plc, Stevenage, United Kingdom

*Email: kent.wei@itoms.com


ABSTRACT

Chromatography plays a crucial role in the pharmaceutical industry, enabling the separation, analysis, and purification of various compounds, with massive application areas in drug development, quality control and safety assessment. Currently, there is no technique for visualizing processes as they occur inside a chromatography column.  Electrical Resistance Tomography (ERT) was evaluated as a tool for this purpose. This paper shares how this technology can successfully aid in improving the understanding of chromatography. The product revolution process of integrating ERT technology into the chromatography process is also discussed. The novel Smart Column provides process data and detailed tomogram images inside of a column housing filled with chromatography resin. ERT is able to offer real-time, accurate conductivity information that represents the column conditions, including resin packing integrity, bio-chemical interaction and buffer volume optimisation.

The resin degradation monitoring of an affinity chromatography process was selected in this paper to model ERT applications in chromatography evaluation.  It is proposed that the Smart Column allows the visualisation of the binding process, the flow of buffer, products, and purification impurities against resin was independently imaged and measured using these chromatography components' contrast in electrical resistance signal.  These initial results demonstrated how ERT can be used as a tool to better understand and characterize purification chromatography is provided.

Keywords: Electrical Resistance Tomography, Advanced Sensor Manufacturing, Process Control, Liquid Chromatography, Affinity Chromatography

Industrial Application: Pharmaceutical, Bio-science

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