PURIFICATION OF MACROMOLECULES BY PRECESSING CONTINUOUS COUNTER-CURRENT DISTRIBUTION

WE PROPOSE TO CONSTRUCT, EVALUATE AND REFINE A MACHINE BASED UPON CONTINUOUS LIQUID-LIQUID PARTITIONING WHICH IS POTENTIALLY CAPABLE OF SEPARATING GRAM QUANTITIES OF MACROMOLECULES WITH A RESOLVING POWER OF TENS OF THOUSANDS OF THEORETICAL PLATES. PARTITIONING WILL TAKE PLACE IN A CHAMBER 200 FT X 1 IN X 0.08 IN WOUND INTO A SPIRAL. TWO IMMISCIBLE SOLVENTS WILL BE INDUCED TO TRAVEL IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS ALONG THIS SPIRAL BY ROTATING THE DEVICE. THE EFFICIENCY WILL BE ENHANCED BY IMPOSING A PRECESSING MOTION UPON THE ROTATION TO INDUCE AN OPTIMUM DEGREE OF MIXING OF THE INDIVIDUAL SOLVENTS, SO THAT THERE IS ADEQUATE TURNOVER OF THE SOLVENT-SOLVENT INTERFACE. DURING PHASE I A PROTOTYPE WILL BE CONSTRUCTED OF PLEXIGLASS AND BRASS, BUT IT IS ANTICIPATED THAT THE FINAL PRODUCT WILL BE OF STAINLESS STEEL CONSTRUCTION. AN EARLY APPLICATION OF THIS TECHNOLOGY WILL BE THE SEPARATION AND PURIFICATION OF PEPTIDE HORMONES AND OTHER PRODUCTS OF BIOTECHNOLOGY.