Abstract
Bioseparations engineering will be more important in biopharmaceutical companies as large scale production of biopharmaceutical drugs (especially antibody drugs) are now anticipated. Chromatography is the major unit process of the downstream processes. Usually very high purity and complete removal of unwanted contaminants such as viruses and pyrogens are required for the protein drugs. For these reasons two or more chromatography processes are involved in the downstream process. This makes the process complicated and expensive. Although the protein drugs are very high-value products, the optimization of the process will be required for the next few years in order to reduce the total cost.
Fine separation is usually not needed in food industries. However, because consumers concern healthy food, functional foods or healthy foods are now being extensively developed. Chromatography may be employed for producing new functional foods or new functional food materials. It is also claimed that removal of unwanted components by chromatography may play important roles in increasing the shelf life of the product or the effective usage of raw materials.
Some examples will be presented how to design typical bioseparation and food separation processes by chromatography. Similarities and differences will also be discussed.
