Reduction of HPLC Waste Solvent Using Spinning Band Distillation
HPLCs use solvents or mixtures of solvents as the mobile phase. Once used, the disposal of these solvents presents an ever-increasing problem. Not only is there the expense of disposal, but also the cost of managing and storing the waste. Spinning band distillation can be used in a number of ways to reduce the amount of waste solvent from HPLCs.
Most HPLC waste contains large amounts of water, up to 90%. So for every liter of solvent purchased, there is up to 10 liters of waste generated!
Removing the majority of water from these wastes is easily accomplished using spinning band distillation. Solvents used in HPLCs have lower boiling points than water. When distilled, these solvents boil first. The water is left behind in the boiling flask. This water is suitable for drain disposal.
Water removal is the best and fastest way to reduce HPLC waste disposal.
A typical HPLC waste stream of 75% water / 25% acetonitrile:
The distilled acetonitrile is normally mixed with 13% water due to the azeotrope that forms between acetonitrile and water.
This approach focuses on cutting the volume of waste that must be stored and hauled, not on producing dry, 100% pure acetonitrile. For other high-purity recovery applications, see high purity solvent recycling and GPC solvent recycling.
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