Used Process Chromatography Equipment

Process chromatography equipment purifies product at pilot and production scale. A skid pumps feed and buffers through a packed column, monitors what comes off it, and directs each fraction to collection or waste. In biopharmaceutical plants, these systems capture and polish proteins and antibodies after fermentation or cell culture.

Federal Equipment Company stocks used chromatography equipment for process development, pilot plants, and manufacturing. The selection covers automated stainless steel skids, single-use chromatography systems, process columns, and preparative HPLC, flash, and SFC systems, from Cytiva, GE Healthcare, Millipore, Amicon, Varian, and Repligen. Most units are held at our Cleveland, OH facility and are available for inspection. For bench-scale instruments, including gas chromatographs and lab ÄKTA systems, see our used lab chromatography instruments.

Can't Find What You Need?

Request Sourcing Help Tell us the flow rate, the column diameter and bed height, and whether you need stainless steel or single-use. We will look for it across our network.

Sell Your Equipment We buy surplus chromatography skids, process columns, and single-use systems outright. Send us a list, and we will make an offer.

Browse our selection below and request a quote for more information regarding our Used Process Chromatography Equipment.

You can also view our full on-hand inventory across all categories.

A process chromatography system has two halves: the skid and the column. The skid holds the pumps, inlet and outlet valves, flow path, and inline sensors. Its control system runs the method from equilibration through elution and cleaning. The column holds the packed resin bed, and its diameter, together with bed height, sets how much feed it can process per run. Flow path size matters when matching a skid to a column, because it sets the flow range the skid can deliver.

Stainless steel skids such as the ÄKTA process are built for repeated campaigns with cleaning between runs. Single-use systems such as the ÄKTA ready replace the wetted flow path with a disposable assembly, which reduces cleaning validation between products and shortens changeover. Pilot-scale systems such as the ÄKTA pilot 600 sit between the lab and the plant, and they are often used to scale up a method before it moves to production.

Process columns come in glass and stainless steel. Glass columns such as the Cytiva BPG let operators see the packed bed, while stainless steel columns typically carry higher pressure ratings. Axial compression columns such as the AxiChrom compress the bed with a moving adapter, which is designed to keep packing consistent from run to run.

Small-molecule purification uses a different class of equipment. Preparative HPLC, flash, and supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) systems run at higher pressure, with smaller particles and organic or CO2-based mobile phases. They purify active ingredients and fine chemicals. Column packing stations, such as Varian Dynamax Rampak units, pack preparative HPLC columns.

Model series recur in this category, and buyers tend to search by them. We handle Cytiva and GE Healthcare ÄKTA process, ÄKTA ready, and ÄKTA pilot 600 systems, plus AxiChrom and BPG columns. Millipore QuickScale and IPP columns, Amicon Vantage columns, Repligen ARTeSYN single-use systems, and Thar Process Isolator SFC-10 supercritical fluid chromatographs turn up regularly too.

What to check before buying.

  • Flow path size and flow range against your column diameter and process volumes
  • Column diameter, maximum bed height, and pressure rating against your resin
  • Control system and software version, whether the license transfers, and whether the skid includes UV, conductivity, and pH monitoring
  • For columns, whether it ships packed or empty, its prior product and cleaning history, and the condition of the nets and adapters
  • For single-use systems, the availability of flow kits and consumables for that platform
  • Electrical supply, footprint, and any hazardous area rating required at the install location

Applications & Industries

  • Biotechnology: capture and polishing of monoclonal antibodies, recombinant proteins, and other biologics, plus process development on pilot-scale systems.
  • Pharmaceutical manufacturing: purification of active ingredients on preparative HPLC and supercritical fluid chromatography systems.
  • Chemical processing: preparative separation and purification of fine chemicals, including on explosion-proof systems.

Specifications & Configurations

Specification Range
System types Stainless steel skids, single-use systems, pilot-scale systems, preparative HPLC, flash chromatography, and supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC)
Skid flow rates 4 to 180 L/hr (ÄKTA process, 3/8-inch flow path) and 15 to 600 L/hr (1/2-inch flow path)
Column diameters 100 mm to 600 mm
Column volumes 12 liters to 158.9 liters
Column pressure ratings 3 to 4 bar on bioprocess columns, and 232 to 1,450 psi on preparative HPLC columns
Materials of construction Glass, stainless steel including 316L, and single-use flow paths
Flash chromatography Up to 1,000 mL/min with 2.5 to 5 kg cartridges (Biotage Flash 150)
SFC purification CO2-based, with purification capacity rated up to 4 kg/day (Thar Process Isolator SFC-10)
Electrical 120-volt portable systems to 208/230-volt skids, plus explosion-proof units

Why Buy Used

Used process chromatography equipment typically costs a fraction of the new price, and in-stock units can ship without the wait for a new build. That matters most when a plant is adding a purification train, building out a pilot suite, or matching equipment already validated at another site.

Columns and skid frames last for many years. The parts that wear are pump heads, valve diaphragms, seals, sensors, and column nets, and all of them can be replaced or rebuilt. Before buying, confirm the testing performed on the specific unit and any additional testing your process needs.

Every unit is inspected when it arrives at our Cleveland, OH facility, and it is available for customer inspection before purchase. Refurbishment and testing can be arranged upon request. Qualification and validation for your process remain with the buyer.