Size-Exclusion Simulated Moving Bed for Separating Organophosphorous Flame Retardants from a Polymer

Over 500,000 tonnes of flame retardants in electronic wastes are consigned to landfills each year. A room-temperature, size-exclusion simulated moving bed (SEC-SMB) was developed using the Standing Wave Design method. High purity (>99%) flame retardants were recovered with high yield (>99%) from a waste. The cost of such a process was estimated to be less than 10% of the purchase cost of the flame retardants. The SEC-SMB is over an order of magnitude more efficient than conventional SEC processes. Fast startup methods were developed to reduce the SMB start-up time by more than 18 fold. SEC-SMB can be an economical method for separating small molecules from polymers in wastes.