Separation and purification of three stilbenes from the radix of Polygonum cillinerve (Nakai) Ohwl by macroporous resin column chromatography combined with high-speed counter-current chromatography

An effective method for the rapid separation and purification of three stilbenes from the radix of Polygonum cillinerve (Nakai) Ohwl by macroporous resin column chromatography combined with high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) was successfully established. In the present study, a two-phase solvent system composed of chloroform-n-butanol-methanol-water (4:1:4:2, v/v/v/v) was used for HSCCC separation. A one-step separation in 4 h from 150 mg of crude extract produced 26.3 mg of trans-resveratrol-3-O-glucoside, 42.0 mg of pieceid-2"-O-gallate, and 17.9 mg of trans-resveratrol with purities of 99.1%, 97.8%, and 99.4%, respectively, as determined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The chemical structures of these compounds were identified by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy.

PYROLIGNEOUS LIQUOR PRODUCED FROM ACACIA MEARNSII DE WILD WOOD UNDER CONTROLLED CONDITIONS AS A RENEWABLE SOURCE OF CHEMICALS

Acacia mearnsii de Wild (black wattle) is one of the most important trees planted in Southern Brazil for tannin extraction and charcoal production. The pyrolysis of the black wattle wood used for obtaining charcoal is performed in brick ovens, with the gas fraction being sent directly into the environment. The present study examines the condensable compounds present in the liquor produced from black wattle wood at different thermal degradation conditions, using gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Branches of black wattle were thermally degraded at controlled ambient and temperature conditions. Overall, a higher variety of compounds were obtained under atmospheric air pressure than under synthetic air pressure. Most of the tentatively identified compounds, such as carboxylic acids, phenols, aldehydes, and low molecular mass lignin fragments, such as guayacol, syringol, and eugenol, were products of lignin thermoconversion. Substituted aromatic compounds, such as vanillin, ethyl vanillin, and 2-methoxy-4-propeny-phenol, were also identified. At temperatures above 200 ºC, furan, 2-acetylfuran, methyl-2-furoate, and furfural, amongst others, were identified as polysaccharide derivatives from cellulose and hemicellulose depolymerization. This study evidences the need for adequate management of the condensable by-products of charcoal production, both for economic reasons and for controlling their potential environmental impact.

LOW COST ANALYZER FOR THE DETERMINATION OF PHOSPHORUS BASED ON OPEN-SOURCE HARDWARE AND PULSED FLOWS

The need for automated analyzers for industrial and environmental samples has triggered the research for new and cost-effective strategies of automation and control of analytical systems. The widespread availability of open-source hardware together with novel analytical methods based on pulsed flows have opened the possibility of implementing standalone automated analytical systems at low cost. Among the areas that can benefit from this approach are the analysis of industrial products and effluents and environmental analysis. In this work, a multi-pumping flow system is proposed for the determination of phosphorus in effluents and polluted water samples. The system employs photometric detection based on the formation of molybdovanadophosphoric acid, and the fluidic circuit is built using three solenoid micropumps. The detection is implemented with a low cost LED-photodiode photometric detection system and the whole system is controlled by an open-source Arduino Uno microcontroller board. The optimization of the timing to ensure the color development and the pumping cycle is discussed for the proposed implementation. Experimental results to evaluate the system behavior are presented verifying a linear relationship between the relative absorbance and the phosphorus concentrations for levels as high as 50 mg L-1.

Separation of Gas Bubbles from Circulation Waters and Pulp Suspensions in Open Channel Flow

The objective of this thesis was to study the removal of gases from paper mill circulation waters experimentally and to provide data for CFD modeling. Flow and bubble size measurements were carried out in a laboratory scale open gas separation channel. Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) technique was used to measure the gas and liquid flow fields, while bubble size measurements were conducted using digital imaging technique with back light illumination. Samples of paper machine waters as well as a model solution were used for the experiments. The PIV results show that the gas bubbles near the feed position have the tendency to escape from the circulation channel at a faster rate than those bubbles which are further away from the feed position. This was due to an increased rate of bubble coalescence as a result of the relatively larger bubbles near the feed position. Moreover, a close similarity between the measured slip velocities of the paper mill waters and that of literature values was obtained. It was found that due to dilution of paper mill waters, the observed average bubble size was considerably large as compared to the average bubble sizes in real industrial pulp suspension and circulation waters. Among the studied solutions, the model solution has the highest average drag coefficient value due to its relatively high viscosity. The results were compared to a 2D steady sate CFD simulation model. A standard Euler-Euler k-ε turbulence model was used in the simulations. The channel free surface was modeled as a degassing boundary. From the drag models used in the simulations, the Grace drag model gave velocity fields closest to the experimental values. In general, the results obtained from experiments and CFD simulations are in good qualitative agreement.

Kostean höyryn paisunnan erityispiirteet ydinvoimalaitosten turbiineissa

Diplomityössä käsitellään ydinvoimalaitoksen kostean höyryn alueella toimivien höyryturbiinien toiminnan erityispiirteitä. Tarkemmin työssä keskitytään Loviisan ydinvoimalaitoksen turbiiniprosessiin. Tavoitteena on selvittää veden tiivistymistä höyryvirrassa, sen erotusta höyrystä turbiineissa sekä määrittää laitokselle todellinen paisuntakäyrä. Työssä selvitettiin veden tiivistymistä höyryvirtaan kirjallisuuden ja prosessista saatujen tietojen perusteella. Lisäksi työssä tutustuttiin suurien nykyaikaisten kostean höyryn alueella toimivien turbiinien vedenerotukseen ja sen pohjalta arvioitiin Loviisan ydinvoimalaitoksen turbiinin kosteudenerotusta. Näiden tietojen avulla saatiin mallinnettua kostean höyryn paisuntakäyrä Loviisan ydinvoimalaitoksen turbiineille. Työssä perehdyttiin lisäksi ulosvirtauskanavan toimintaan. Diplomityön puitteissa ei perehdytty yksityiskohtaisesti veden tiivistymiseen höyryvirrassa, vaan aihe ansaitsee tarkempaa tutkimusta. Kosteuden erotustehokkuuden arviointi todellisessa prosessissa ilman mittauksista saatavaa tietoa on vaikeata, mutta toimenpiteisiin lisäinformaation saamiseksi Loviisan ydinvoimalaitoksen turbiiniprosessista on ryhdytty. Työssä tehtyjen selvitysten avulla saatiin arvokasta tietoa turbiinikoneikon toiminnasta ja sen tehokkuuden parantamisesta.

Parallel-Operating Three-Phase Voltage Source Inverters – Circulating CurrentModeling, Analysis and Mitigation

The maximum realizable power throughput of power electronic converters may be limited or constrained by technical or economical considerations. One solution to this problemis to connect several power converter units in parallel. The parallel connection can be used to increase the current carrying capacity of the overall system beyond the ratings of individual power converter units. Thus, it is possible to use several lower-power converter units, produced in large quantities, as building blocks to construct high-power converters in a modular manner. High-power converters realized by using parallel connection are needed for example in multimegawatt wind power generation systems. Parallel connection of power converter units is also required in emerging applications such as photovoltaic and fuel cell power conversion. The parallel operation of power converter units is not, however, problem free. This is because parallel-operating units are subject to overcurrent stresses, which are caused by unequal load current sharing or currents that flow between the units. Commonly, the term ’circulatingcurrent’ is used to describe both the unequal load current sharing and the currents flowing between the units. Circulating currents, again, are caused by component tolerances and asynchronous operation of the parallel units. Parallel-operating units are also subject to stresses caused by unequal thermal stress distribution. Both of these problemscan, nevertheless, be handled with a proper circulating current control. To design an effective circulating current control system, we need information about circulating current dynamics. The dynamics of the circulating currents can be investigated by developing appropriate mathematical models. In this dissertation, circulating current models aredeveloped for two different types of parallel two-level three-phase inverter configurations. Themodels, which are developed for an arbitrary number of parallel units, provide a framework for analyzing circulating current generation mechanisms and developing circulating current control systems. In addition to developing circulating current models, modulation of parallel inverters is considered. It is illustrated that depending on the parallel inverter configuration and the modulation method applied, common-mode circulating currents may be excited as a consequence of the differential-mode circulating current control. To prevent the common-mode circulating currents that are caused by the modulation, a dual modulator method is introduced. The dual modulator basically consists of two independently operating modulators, the outputs of which eventually constitute the switching commands of the inverter. The two independently operating modulators are referred to as primary and secondary modulators. In its intended usage, the same voltage vector is fed to the primary modulators of each parallel unit, and the inputs of the secondary modulators are obtained from the circulating current controllers. To ensure that voltage commands obtained from the circulating current controllers are realizable, it must be guaranteed that the inverter is not driven into saturation by the primary modulator. The inverter saturation can be prevented by limiting the inputs of the primary and secondary modulators. Because of this, also a limitation algorithm is proposed. The operation of both the proposed dual modulator and the limitation algorithm is verified experimentally.

Kuivurin pölynhallintajärjestelmä

Lämminilmakuivaus on viljan kuivaamisen menetelmistä ylivoimaisesti käytetyin. Siinä kuivurissa olevan viljakerroksen läpi puhalletaan lämmintä ilmaa, kunnes viljan kosteuspitoisuus laskee tavoitetasoon. Viljan jyvistä irtoaa aina pölyä niiden hangatessa toisiaan vasten. Viljankuivaamoiden pölyisyyttä on normaalisti pyritty vähentämään poistamalla leijuvaa pölyä viljan liikkeen epäjatkuvuuskohdista. Pölyä kulkeutuu kuitenkin kuivaamon ulkopuolelle myös kuivaukseen käytetyn ilman mukana. Poistoilman pölypitoisuus ei tavallisesti ole korkea, mutta kuivaamiseen käytetyistä suurista ilmamääristä johtuen pölyä voi kertyä poistoilmakanavan ympäristöön huomattavia määriä. Tämän diplomityön tavoitteena onkin viljankuivurin poistoilman pölypitoisuuden vähentämiseen soveltuvan pölynhallintajärjestelmän kehittäminen. Selvityksessä tarkasteltiin ensinnäkin kuivurin poistoilman pölypitoisuuteen liittyvää kansallista ja kansainvälistä lainsäädäntöä sekä raja-arvoja. Lähdemateriaalin perusteella kartoitettiin pölypitoisuuden vähentämiseen soveltuvia menetelmiä sekä kilpailijoiden toteuttamia ratkaisuja. Myös muita pölynhallintajärjestelmän edellytyksiä selvitettiin. Teoreettisessa tarkastelussa teknistaloudellisesti parhaaksi osoittautunut pölynhallintaratkaisu jalostettiin prototyypiksi. Sen toimintakykyä testattiin erotustehokkuuden mittaamiseen soveltuvan koelaitteiston avulla. Testitulosten perusteella kyseinen pölynhallintajärjestelmä todettiin toimivaksi ja pienellä jatkokehittelyllä myös kaupalliseen käyttöön soveltuvaksi. Testitulosten hyödyntämismahdollisuuksien lisäksi diplomityössä esitetään myös muutamia jatkokehitysehdotuksia.

Source and Target Text-Orientation in Drama Translation. An Analysis of Four Translations of William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar

Tässä pro gradu -tutkielmassa käsittelen lähde- ja kohdetekstikeskeisyyttä näytelmäkääntämisessä. Tutkimuskohteina olivat käännösten sanasto, syntaksi, näyttämötekniikka, kielikuvat, sanaleikit, runomitta ja tyyli. Tutkimuksen tarkoituksena oli selvittää, näkyykö teoreettinen painopisteen siirtyminen lähdetekstikeskeisyydestä kohdetekstikeskeisyyteen suomenkielisessä näytelmäkääntämisessä. Oletuksena oli, että siirtyminen näkyy käytetyissä käännösstrategioissa. Tutkimuksen teoriaosuudessa käsitellään ensin lähde- ja kohdetekstikeskeisiä käännösteorioita. Ensin esitellään kaksi lähdetekstikeskeistä teoriaa, jotka ovat Catfordin (1965) muodollinen vastaavuus ja Nidan (1964) dynaaminen ekvivalenssi. Kohdetekstikeskeisistä teorioista käsitellään Touryn (1980) ja Newmarkin (1981) teoreettisia näkemyksiä sekä Reiss ja Vermeerin (1986) esittelemää skopos-teoriaa. Vieraannuttamisen ja kotouttamisen periaatteet esitellään lyhyesti. Teoriaosuudessa käsitellään myös näytelmäkääntämistä, William Shakespearen kieltä ja siihen liittyviä käännösongelmia. Lisäksi esittelen lyhyesti Shakespearen kääntämistä Suomessa ja Julius Caesarin neljä kääntäjää. Tutkimuksen materiaalina oli neljä Shakespearen Julius Caesar –näytelmän suomennosta, joista Paavo Cajanderin käännös on julkaistu vuonna 1883, Eeva-Liisa Mannerin vuonna 1983, Lauri Siparin vuonna 2006 ja Jarkko Laineen vuonna 2007. Analyysissa käännöksiä verrattiin lähdetekstiin ja toisiinsa ja vertailtiin kääntäjien tekemiä käännösratkaisuja. Tulokset olivat oletuksen mukaisia. Lähdetekstikeskeisiä käännösstrategioita oli käytetty uusissa käännöksissä vähemmän kuin vanhemmissa. Kohdetekstikeskeiset strategiat erosivat huomattavasti toisistaan ja uusinta käännöstä voi sanoa adaptaatioksi. Jatkotutkimuksissa tulisi materiaali laajentaa koskemaan muitakin Shakespearen näytelmien suomennoksia. Eri aikakausien käännöksiä tulisi verrata keskenään ja toisiinsa, jotta voitaisiin luotettavasti kuvata muutosta lähde- ja kohdetekstikeskeisten käännösstrategioiden käytössä ja eri aikakausien tyypillisten strategioiden kartoittamiseksi.

Mathematical equation correction to spectral and transport interferences in high-resolution continuum source flame atomic absorption spectrometry: determination of lead in phosphoric acid

In this work, a new mathematical equation correction approach for overcoming spectral and transport interferences was proposed. The proposal was applied to eliminate spectral interference caused by PO molecules at the 217.0005 nm Pb line, and the transport interference caused by variations in phosphoric acid concentrations. Correction may be necessary at 217.0005 nm to account for the contribution of PO, since Atotal217.0005 nm = A Pb217.0005 nm + A PO217.0005 nm. This may be easily done by measuring other PO wavelengths (e.g. 217.0458 nm) and calculating the relative contribution of PO absorbance (A PO) to the total absorbance (Atotal) at 217.0005 nm: A Pb217.0005 nm = Atotal217.0005 nm - A PO217.0005 nm = Atotal217.0005 nm - k (A PO217.0458 nm). The correction factor k is calculated from slopes of calibration curves built up for phosphorous (P) standard solutions measured at 217.0005 and 217.0458 nm, i.e. k = (slope217.0005 nm/slope217.0458 nm). For wavelength integrated absorbance of 3 pixels, sample aspiration rate of 5.0 ml min-1, analytical curves in the 0.1 - 1.0 mg L-1 Pb range with linearity better than 0.9990 were consistently obtained. Calibration curves for P at 217.0005 and 217.0458 nm with linearity better than 0.998 were obtained. Relative standard deviations (RSD) of measurements (n = 12) in the range of 1.4 - 4.3% and 2.0 - 6.0% without and with mathematical equation correction approach were obtained respectively. The limit of detection calculated to analytical line at 217.0005 nm was 10 µg L-1 Pb. Recoveries for Pb spikes were in the 97.5 - 100% and 105 - 230% intervals with and without mathematical equation correction approach, respectively.

Determination of copper at wide range concentrations using instrumental features of high-resolution continuum source flame atomic absorption spectrometry

This work describes a method to determine Cu at wide range concentrations in a single run without need of further dilutions employing high-resolution continuum source flame atomic absorption spectrometry. Different atomic lines for Cu at 324.754 nm, 327.396 nm, 222.570 nm, 249.215 nm and 224.426 nm were evaluated and main figures of merit established. Absorbance measurements at 324.754 nm, 249.215 nm and 224.426 nm allows the determination of Cu in the 0.07 - 5.0 mg L-1, 5.0 - 100 mg L-1 and 100 - 800 mg L-1 concentration intervals respectively with linear correlation coefficients better than 0.998. Limits of detection were 21 µg L-1, 310 µg L-1 and 1400 µg L-1 for 324.754 nm, 249.215 nm and 224.426 nm, respectively and relative standard deviations (n = 12) were £ 2.7%. The proposed method was applied to water samples spiked with Cu and the results were in agreement at a 95% of confidence level (paired t-test) with those obtained by line-source flame atomic absorption spectrometry.

Soluble tissue sugar content and leaf blast severity in response to the application of calcinated serpentinite as a silicon source in irrigated rice

A field experiment conducted with the irrigated rice cultivar BRS Formoso, to assess the efficiency of calcinated serpentinite as a silicon source on grain yield was utilized to study its effect on leaf blast severity and tissue sugar levels. The treatments consisted of five rates of calcinated serpentinite (0, 2, 4, 6, 8 Mg.ha-1) incorporated into the soil prior to planting. The leaf blast severity was reduced at the rate of 2.96% per ton of calcinated serpentinite. The total tissue sugar content decreased significantly as the rates of serpentinite applied increased (R² = 0.83). The relationship between the tissue sugar content and leaf blast severity was linear and positive (R² = 0.81). The decrease in leaf blast severity with increased rates of calcinated serpentinite was also linear (R²= 0.96) and can be ascribed to reduced sugar level.

Decomposition of corn and soybean residues under field conditions and their role as inoculum source

Necrotrophic parasites of above-ground plant parts survive saprophytically, between growing seasons in host crop residues. In an experiment conducted under field conditions, the time required in months for corn and soybean residues to be completely decomposed was quantified. Residues were laid on the soil surface to simulate no-till farming. Crop debris of the two plant species collected on the harvesting day cut into pieces of 5.0cm-long and a 200g mass was added to nylon mesh bags. At monthly intervals, bags were taken to the laboratory for weighing. Corn residues were decomposed within 37.0 months and those of soybean, within 34.5 months. Hw main necrotrophic fungi diagnosed in the corn residues were Colletotrichum gramicola, Diplodia spp. and Gibberella zeae, and those in soybeans residues were Cercospora kikuchii, Colletotrichum spp, Glomerella sp. and Phomopsis spp. Thus, those periods shoulb be observed in crop rotation aimed at to eliminating contaminated residues and, consequently, the inoculum from the cultivated area.

Recovery and refining of manganese as by-product from hydrometallurgical processes

The consumption of manganese is increasing, but huge amounts of manganese still end up in waste in hydrometallurgical processes. The recovery of manganese from multi-metal solutions at low concentrations may not be economical. In addition, poor iron control typically prevents the production of high purity manganese. Separation of iron from manganese can be done with chemical precipitation or solvent extraction methods. Combined carbonate precipitation with air oxidation is a feasible method to separate iron and manganese due to the fast kinetics, good controllability and economical reagents. In addition the leaching of manganese carbonate is easier and less acid consuming than that of hydroxide or sulfide precipitates. Selective iron removal with great efficiency from MnSO4 solution is achieved by combined oxygen or air oxidation and CaCO3 precipitation at pH > 5.8 and at a redox potential of > 200 mV. In order to avoid gypsum formation, soda ash should be used instead of limestone. In such case, however, extra attention needs to be paid on the reagents mole ratios in order to avoid manganese coprecipitation. After iron removal, pure MnSO4 solution was obtained by solvent extraction using organophosphorus reagents, di-(2-ethylhexyl)phosphoric acid (D2EHPA) and bis(2,4,4- trimethylpentyl)phosphinic acid (CYANEX 272). The Mn/Ca and Mn/Mg selectivities can be increased by decreasing the temperature from the commonly used temperatures (40 –60oC) to 5oC. The extraction order of D2EHPA (Ca before Mn) at low temperature remains unchanged but the lowering of temperature causes an increase in viscosity and slower phase separation. Of these regents, CYANEX 272 is selective for Mn over Ca and, therefore, it would be the better choice if there is Ca present in solution. A three-stage Mn extraction followed by a two-stage scrubbing and two-stage sulfuric acid stripping is an effective method of producing a very pure MnSO4 intermediate solution for further processing. From the intermediate MnSO4 some special Mn- products for ion exchange applications were synthesized and studied. Three types of octahedrally coordinated manganese oxide materials as an alternative final product for manganese were chosen for synthesis: layer structured Nabirnessite, tunnel structured Mg-todorokite and K-kryptomelane. As an alternative source of pure MnSO4 intermediate, kryptomelane was synthesized by using a synthetic hydrometallurgical tailings. The results show that the studied OMS materials adsorb selectively Cu, Ni, Cd and K in the presence of Ca and Mg. It was also found that the exchange rates were reasonably high due to the small particle dimensions. Materials are stable in the studied conditions and their maximum Cu uptake capacity was 1.3 mmol/g. Competitive uptake of metals and acid was studied using equilibrium, batch kinetic and fixed-bed measurements. The experimental data was correlated with a dynamic model, which also accounts for the dissolution of the framework manganese. Manganese oxide micro-crystals were also bound onto silica to prepare a composite material having a particle size large enough to be used in column separation experiments. The MnOx/SiO2 ratio was found to affect significantly the properties of the composite. The higher the ratio, the lower is the specific surface area, the pore volume and the pore size. On the other hand, higher amount of silica binder gives composites better mechanical properties. Birnesite and todorokite can be aggregated successfully with colloidal silica at pH 4 and with MnO2/SiO2 weight ratio of 0.7. The best gelation and drying temperature was 110oC and sufficiently strong composites were obtained by additional heat-treatment at 250oC for 2 h. The results show that silica–supported MnO2 materials can be utilized to separate copper from nickel and cadmium. The behavior of the composites can be explained reasonably well with the presented model and the parameters estimated from the data of the unsupported oxides. The metal uptake capacities of the prepared materials were quite small. For example, the final copper loading was 0.14 mmol/gMnO2. According to the results the special MnO2 materials are potential for a specific environmental application to uptake harmful metal ions.

Perspectives for the production and usage of wood chips as a source of energy in the North-West of Russia

The development of bioenergy on the basis of wood fuels has received considerable attention in the last decades. The combination of large forest resources and reliance on fossil fuels makes the issue of wood chips usage in Russia an actual topic for the analysis. The main objective of this study is to disclose the current state and perspectives for the production of wood chips and their usage as a source of energy in the North-West of Russia. The study utilizes an integrated approach to explore the market of wood chips on the basis of comprehensive analysis of documentation and expert opinions. The analysis of wood chips market was performed for eight regions of the North-West district of Russia within two major dimensions: its current state and perspectives in the nearest five years. The results of the study show a comprehensive picture of the wood chips market, including the potential for wood chips production, the specific features of production and consumption and the perspectives for the market development within the regions of the North-West district of Russia. The study demonstrated that the market of wood chips is underdeveloped in the North-West of Russia. The findings of the work may be used by forest companies for the strategic planning.

Modeling of electrolyte sorption – from phase equilibria to dynamic separation systems

In this thesis, general approach is devised to model electrolyte sorption from aqueous solutions on solid materials. Electrolyte sorption is often considered as unwanted phenomenon in ion exchange and its potential as an independent separation method has not been fully explored. The solid sorbents studied here are porous and non-porous organic or inorganic materials with or without specific functional groups attached on the solid matrix. Accordingly, the sorption mechanisms include physical adsorption, chemisorption on the functional groups and partition restricted by electrostatic or steric factors. The model is tested in four Cases Studies dealing with chelating adsorption of transition metal mixtures, physical adsorption of metal and metalloid complexes from chloride solutions, size exclusion of electrolytes in nano-porous materials and electrolyte exclusion of electrolyte/non-electrolyte mixtures. The model parameters are estimated using experimental data from equilibrium and batch kinetic measurements, and they are used to simulate actual single-column fixed-bed separations. Phase equilibrium between the solution and solid phases is described using thermodynamic Gibbs-Donnan model and various adsorption models depending on the properties of the sorbent. The 3-dimensional thermodynamic approach is used for volume sorption in gel-type ion exchangers and in nano-porous adsorbents, and satisfactory correlation is obtained provided that both mixing and exclusion effects are adequately taken into account. 2-Dimensional surface adsorption models are successfully applied to physical adsorption of complex species and to chelating adsorption of transition metal salts. In the latter case, comparison is also made with complex formation models. Results of the mass transport studies show that uptake rates even in a competitive high-affinity system can be described by constant diffusion coefficients, when the adsorbent structure and the phase equilibrium conditions are adequately included in the model. Furthermore, a simplified solution based on the linear driving force approximation and the shrinking-core model is developed for very non-linear adsorption systems. In each Case Study, the actual separation is carried out batch-wise in fixed-beds and the experimental data are simulated/correlated using the parameters derived from equilibrium and kinetic data. Good agreement between the calculated and experimental break-through curves is usually obtained indicating that the proposed approach is useful in systems, which at first sight are very different. For example, the important improvement in copper separation from concentrated zinc sulfate solution at elevated temperatures can be correctly predicted by the model. In some cases, however, re-adjustment of model parameters is needed due to e.g. high solution viscosity.