The bulk of the eluent is continuously circulated in the system, making it necessary to replace only that small amount which is removed in the extract and raffinate. This enables savings of up to 90% of the eluent in comparison to a batch process. Also, due to the simulated counter-current, the stationary phase is significantly better utilized with the SMB technique as compared to the batch process technique. The number of theoretical plates might be also less important, making it possible to use cost-effective larger particle size for the stationary phases.
Typically, the SMB process is used for mixtures of two components, like chiral separations or mixtures with a “leading” or a “trailing” key product peak in the chromatogram. But it is possible that each partial fraction can be separated into a further fraction by repeated use of the SMB process – down to binary substance mixtures.