Recycle chromatographic systems were designed to isolate one component from a ternary mixture. Since the concentrations of the dilute ternary Mixtures studied (phenols, amino acids, and benzenes) were all in the linear range of isotherms, the Lapidus-Amundson equation was used to predict the broadening of elution bands caused by axial dispersion and mass-transfer resistance. Optimum operating conditions were designed to isolate the target solutes with over 99% purity and yield. Compared to complete ternary separation, recycle chromatography for separation of a single component required significantly less solvent and had higher productivity. For the amino acid system the optimum column length and mobile-phase velocity which had maximum productivity were determined with different sizes of adsorbent particle. When large particles were used, longer columns and faster mobile-phase velocities were needed to obtain maximum productivity as compared with small particle sizes.