The study of separation and purification processes of fermentation products is most important for their commercial Success. Both the optimisation and the scale-up of such operations require a study of the process fundamentals. Mathematical models have been developed and used to predict the effects of parameter changes in the adsorption based recovery process. The adsorption of Vitamin B 12 (VB12) and cephalosporm-C (CPC) from aqueous solutions on non-ionic polymeric adsorbents were studied from the point of view of modelling and experiments. Adsorption equilibrium isotherms and intraparticle effective diffusivities were measured in batch and continuous stirred tank adsorbers (CSTAs), respectively. The parameters obtained were introduced in a model to predict the breakthrough curves in fixed-bed experiments. Regeneration of CSTA and fixed-bed adsorbers was also analysed using a "regenerant front" model. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.