Simultaneous removal of albumin-bound toxins in liver support devices: bilirubin and tryptophan adsorption on activated carbon

Adsorption processes are commonly implemented in liver support devices for the removal of albuminbound toxins such as bilirubin andtryptophan.A quantitative knowledge of the reduction of the adsorption capacity due to the simultaneous presence of albumin and several toxins in the liquid phase is essential for a rational design of an adsorption unit used in the liver support devices.In this work, simultaneous adsorption of bilirubin and tryptophan from albumin-containing solutions was investigated. In particular, experimental runs have been carried out in order to evaluate the presence of a competitive adsorption on the activated carbon of the two examined toxins. The IAS model has been used to account for multicomponent adsorption equilibrium.