CADET-Julia: Efficient and versatile, open-source simulator for batch chromatography in Julia

Abstract

This study introduces CADET-Julia, an open-source, versatile and fast chromatography solver implemented in the Julia programming language. The software offers a platform for rapid prototyping and numerical refinement for a range of chromatography models, including the general rate model (GRM). The interstitial column mass balance was spatially discretized using a strong-form discontinuous Galerkin spectral element method (DGSEM) whereas a generalized spatial Galerkin spectral method (GSM) was applied for the particle mass balance. Three different benchmarks showcased the computational efficiency of CADET-Julia: A baseline benchmark was established by comparing the Julia implementation to a C++ implementation that employed the same mathematical methods and time integrator (CADET-DG). Various Julia time integrators were tested, and with the best-performing settings, the Julia implementation was benchmarked against CADET-DG and a finite volume (FV) based implementation in C++ (CADET-FV). Overall, Julia implementations performed better than C++ implementations and Galerkin methods were generally superior to finite volumes.