The present application discloses a process for the purification of a neutral human milk oligosaccharide (neutral HMO). The process uses simulated moving bed (SMB) chromatography which allows the continuous purification of large quantities of HMOs with high purity. Contrary to chemical synthesis routes of neutral HMOs, and their subsequent purification, the presented process allows the provision of HMOs free of noxious chemicals, such as e.g. trace amounts of heavy metals or organic solvents. The individual neutral HMO product may be obtained in solid form by spray drying or as a concentrated syrup. The provided neutral HMO is very well-suited for use in food applications.

A method for purification and separation of cannabinoids, such as cannabidiol and tetrahydrocannabinol, e.g., from dried hemp and cannabis leaves can use a continuous simulated moving bed process, a batch column chromatography method, or a single column, and a combination of one or more of a sequence of purification steps including: filtration, decolorization, activation or decarboxylation, dewaxing, polishing, and crystallization to separate a cannabinoid from the cannabis plant and to provide various cannabinoid products. The cannabinoid products can be used in various pharmaceutical and nutraceutical applications.

Disclosed is a continuous process for the purification of steviol glycosides such as Rebaudioside D and/or Rebaudioside M extracted from the dried stevia leaves or extracted from a fermentation broth using continuous simulated moving bed processes and nanofiltration without the addition of organic solvents to obtain a purified steviol product comprising sweet steviol glycosides. The sweet steviol glycosides can be used as substitutes for caloric sweeteners in beverages and in other food items.

An adsorbent and a use thereof are provided. The adsorbent is a metal-organic framework (MOF) MIL-125; the MOF MIL-125 has an external specific surface area (SSA) of 160 m.sup.2/g to 220 m.sup.2/g; and the MOF MIL-125 includes a micropore with an area of 1,000 m.sup.2/g to 1,500 m.sup.2/g. The external SSA of the MOF MIL-125 is much higher than an external SSA of the traditional MIL-125, which has promising application prospects in the adsorptive separation of xylene isomers and exhibits high selectivity for p-xylene.

The present invention provides a composite layer agglomerating adsorbent, comprising an outer adsorbent layer containing a low silica X molecular sieve and an inner adsorbent layer containing a high silica X molecular sieve, the low silica X molecular sieve has a silica/alumina molar ratio of 2.07-2.18, the high silica X molecular sieve has a silica/alumina molar ratio of 2.2-2.5, based on the total amount of the adsorbent, the adsorbent comprises 95.0-100 mass % of the X molecular sieve and 0-5.0 mass % of the matrix, the cation sites of the X molecular sieve in the adsorbent are occupied by a metal of Group IIA or occupied together by a metal of Group IA and a metal of Group IIA. The adsorbent is suitable for the process of adsorptive separation of PX from C.sub.8 aromatic hydrocarbons using light aromatic hydrocarbons as desorbent, and has high adsorption selectivity and good mass transfer performance.

Disclosed is a process for the purification of LNnT (lacto-N-neotetraose) from a fermentation broth, the process comprises subjecting a fermentation broth to a first step of membrane filtration, thereby providing a filtrated solution, such filtrated solution is subjecting to a second step of simulated moving bed chromatography, obtaining a purified solution thereof, then subjecting this purified solution to a third step of crystallization, obtaining crystals containing the LNnT of interest, and subjecting the crystals to a fourth and final step of drying, thereby providing a highly purified powder of LNnT.

The invention relates to a process for the liquid-phase separation of glucose from a mixture of C5 and C6 sugars comprising at least xylose and glucose, by adsorption of glucose on a zeolitic adsorbent based on FAU-type zeolite crystals having an Si/Al atomic ratio strictly greater than 1.5 comprising barium, wherein: said mixture is brought into contact with said adsorbent, by liquid chromatography, to obtain a xylose-enriched liquid phase and a glucose-enriched adsorbed phase; on the one hand, said xylose-enriched liquid phase is recovered and said phase adsorbed on said adsorbent is desorbed by means of a desorption solvent in order to recover the glucose on the other hand.

The invention relates to a process for the liquid-phase separation of xylose from a mixture of C5 and C6 sugars comprising at least xylose and glucose, by adsorption of xylose on a zeolitic adsorbent based on FAU-type zeolite crystals having an Si/Al atomic ratio of less than or equal to 1.5 comprising barium, wherein: said mixture is brought into contact with said adsorbent, by liquid chromatography, to obtain a glucose-enriched liquid phase and a xylose-enriched adsorbed phase; on the one hand, said glucose-enriched liquid phase is recovered and said phase adsorbed on said adsorbent is desorbed by means of a desorption solvent in order to recover the xylose on the other hand.

The present invention relates to a method for fractionating a feedstock into two or more fractions enriched with different components, and more particularly to a method for fractionating a feedstock into two or more fractions by a chromatographic sequential simulated moving bed (SMB) system, wherein the SMB system comprises a separation loop comprising at least 2 compartments; and wherein the method comprises a separation cycle comprising at least one feeding step, at least one circulating step and at least one eluting step; wherein the dissolved substances in the feedstock form a separation profile as they progress through the separation loop; and the separation profile is progressed more than once or less than once through the separation loop in each separation cycle; and wherein at least two flow paths are present in the separation loop during each feeding step of the separation cycle; and at least one of said flow paths is an active flow path and at least one of said flow paths is an inactive flow path.

The present invention describes a process for obtaining para-xylene from a feedstock containing xylenes, ethylbenzene and C9+ hydrocarbons, said process comprising a single stage A of separation in a simulated moving bed carried out with a zeolite as adsorbent and a desorbent and making it possible to obtain at least three fractions, a fraction A1 comprising a mixture of para-xylene and of desorbent and two fractions A21, A22 comprising ethylbenzene (EB), ortho-xylene (OX) and meta-xylene (MX) and desorbent, said stage is carried out at a temperature between 20° C. and 250° C., under a pressure between the bubble pressure of the xylenes at the operating temperature and 2.0 MPa, and with a ratio by volume of the desorbent to the feedstock in the unit for separation 2 in a simulated moving bed is between 0.4 and 2.5, a stage B of fractionation by distillation in a 2-cut distillation column of the fractions A21 and A22 resulting from stage A, in which said fractions are introduced separately at distinct injection points, and makes it possible to obtain a fraction B2 containing ethylbenzene, ortho-xylene and meta-xylene, and a fraction B42 devoid of aromatic compounds having 8 carbon atoms and containing desorbent.