The applicability of sequential centrifugal partition chromatography for continuous fractionation of multicomponent mixtures, represented here by a mixture of four parabens with very similar molecular structure, was studied. The fractionation of the quaternary feed mixture was regarded as a separation of a pseudo-binary mixture. The model-based approach was used to select the biphasic liquid system and the unit operating parameters. All desired fractions were recovered with purities >99%. The influence of the solute concentration on the density, viscosity and volume ratio of the phases as well as on the partitioning of the solutes between the two phases was investigated. According to these results, possibilities for increasing the throughput were proposed and validated experimentally. For example, butyl paraben with a purity >= 99% was continuously separated from the rest of the parabens in a 250 mL unit with a throughput of 3.24 g h(-1) and a solvent consumption of 0.33 L g(-1). (C) 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J