The SepaBean™ machine U100 is the compact entry-level model in the product range. It achieves flow rates of 1 to 100 ml/min at a maximum operating pressure of 100 psi (6.9 bar). The system operates using a binary gradient of two solvents and is particularly suitable for conventional normal-phase and reversed-phase purifications on a laboratory scale.

Advantages:

• Cost-effective entry into automated flash chromatography
• compact and sufficient for typical routine purifications
• Various UV, DAD and UV/Vis detectors available
• suitable for normal-phase and reversed-phase separations

Disadvantages:

• maximum flow rate of 100 ml/min
• only two solvent lines
• Lower maximum pressure than with larger SepaBean™ models
• less suitable for large cartridges and rapid scale-up applications

The U100 is therefore particularly suitable for users who mainly carry out small to medium-scale preparative purifications and do not require high flow rates or pressures.

The SepaBean™ U200 machine extends the U-Series concept to a maximum flow rate of 200 ml/min and a maximum pressure of 200 psi (13.8 bar). As with the U100, a binary gradient using two solvents is employed. This means the U200 offers significantly greater capacity for larger flash cartridges and higher flow rates, whilst remaining simpler in design than the more advanced SepaBean™ systems, as an entry-level model.

Advantages:

• good balance between performance and equipment requirements
• up to 200 ml/min
• 200 psi maximum operating pressure
• suitable for a wide range of typical flash purifications
• Various detection options available

Disadvantages:

• only two solvent lines
• less flexibility with complex solvent systems than the T, Standard or Machine 2 models
• Not designed for particularly high pressures or very large preparative batches

The U200 is an interesting choice for laboratories that regularly use flash chromatography but do not require the additional capabilities of the larger models.

The SepaBean™ machine T also operates at up to 200 ml/min and 200 psi (13.8 bar), but offers a more flexible solvent supply compared with the U series. Four solvent lines are available, allowing two solvents to be combined for binary gradients, whilst additional solvents can be used, for example, as modifiers.

Advantages:

• four solvent lines
• more flexible method development than with the U-series
• good combination of performance and a moderate pressure range
• DAD UV or UV/Vis and ELSD can be used
• well suited to alternating normal-phase and reversed-phase methods

Disadvantages:

• Same maximum flow rate and pressure as the U200
• Lower sample and column capacity than the SepaBean™ machine and machine 2
• The machine 2 is better suited to high-pressure-capable flash cartridges

The SepaBean™ machine T is particularly recommended when different methods and solvent combinations are frequently used and the flexibility of the four solvent lines is required.

The classic SepaBean™ machine is the standard version of the product range. The system operates at a flow rate of 1 to 200 ml/min at a maximum pressure of 200 psi (13.8 bar) and features four solvent lines with high-pressure mixing.

Advantages:

• Versatile standard system
• four solvent lines
• high-pressure mixing
• sample loading capacity of up to 300 g
• Cartridges up to 3 kg with adapter
• Good balance between routine laboratory work and scale-up

Disadvantages:

• maximum 200 psi
• Maximum 200 ml/min
• For particularly efficient, higher-pressure flash separations, the Machine 2 offers greater capacity

The standard SepaBean™ is therefore a versatile flash system for laboratories with a wide range of applications, particularly where both smaller routine purifications and larger preparative separations are to be carried out.

For large-scale preparative purifications, Santai offers the SepaBean™ machine L. The L 1000LP model achieves flow rates of 50 to 1,000 ml/min at a maximum pressure of 150 psi (10.3 bar).

The system is designed for large flash cartridges ranging from 800 g to 10 kg and sample quantities from 8 g to 1 kg. It thus enables flash separations developed in the laboratory to be scaled up to a significantly larger scale.

Advantages:

• very high flow rate of up to 1,000 ml/min
• Sample quantities up to 1 kg
• Cartridges up to 10 kg
• suitable for scale-up and pilot-scale purifications
• Four solvent lines
• Optional sample feeding module and fraction collector available

Disadvantages:

• Relatively low maximum pressure of 150 psi
• Not optimised for small-scale routine purifications
• significantly higher solvent consumption than with laboratory systems
• Not suitable for small flash cartridges

The L 1000LP is particularly suitable for high-volume, conventional flash separations where high flow rates and large loading volumes are more important than a high operating pressure.

The SepaBean™ machine L 1000MP combines the high throughput of the L series with a significantly higher operating pressure. The system also achieves up to 1,000 ml/min, but is designed for pressures of up to 1,450 psi (99 bar).

This enables even large-scale and higher-pressure preparative separations to be carried out. Cartridge sizes range from 800 g to 10 kg, with a maximum sample loading capacity of 1 kg.

Advantages:

• up to 1,000 ml/min
• extremely high maximum pressure of 1,450 psi
• Sample weights up to 1 kg
• Cartridges up to 10 kg
• suitable for demanding scale-up and pilot-scale separations
• High flexibility in terms of stationary phases and particle sizes

Disadvantages:

• Significantly oversized for simple flash separations
• Higher equipment and infrastructure costs
• Large volumes of solvent at high flow rates
• Primarily suitable for larger preparative applications

The L 1000MP is the right choice when large sample volumes need to be processed at high flow rates and a high chromatographic operating pressure is required at the same time.