The Simulated Moving Bed (SMB) is one of the greatest illustrations of the potential of continuous multicolumn counter-current chromatographic processes. Although it was initially developed for the purification of petrochemicals, the advances that this technology has experienced during more than 50 years of existence were at the basis of its successful expansion into the food and pharmaceuticals industries. In this context, the present work provides an overview of the evolution of SMB focused on the most relevant instrumental aspects related with this technology. For that purpose, the details of the design and construction of this equipment will be reviewed, with special attention to the valves design. Due to its increasing interest, the technical requirements imposed by unconventional operating modes will be addressed together with the design adaptations that allow the operation of SMB units with compressible fluids and the implementation of Hybrid-SMB processes. Finally, as SMB technology has been unable to meet all the process specifications within the growing biopharmaceuticals industry, the development of alternative multicolumn counter-current units has intensified over the last few years. Hence, examples of the design and application of these new units will be provided.
Keywords: Chromatographic separation; Equipment design; Multicolumn counter-current chromatographic processes; Simulated Moving Bed.
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