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Author Spotlight: Optimizing Hollow-Fiber Membranes for Continuous Liquid-Liquid Extraction of Medium-Chain Fatty Acids
Published on: August 9, 2024
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Membrane Technologies for Lactic Acid Separation from Fermentation Broths Derived from Renewable Resources.
Maria Alexandri1, Roland Schneider2, Joachim Venus3
1Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy (ATB), Max-Eyth-Allee 100, 14469 Potsdam, Germany. malexandri@atb-potsdam.de.
Membranes
|October 17, 2018
Summary
Pilot-scale lactic acid (LA) production using various media was optimized with micro- and nanofiltration. These membrane processes efficiently separated cells and impurities, enabling industrial application for biotechnological LA recovery.
Area of Science:
- Biotechnology
- Chemical Engineering
- Separation Science
Background:
- Lactic acid (LA) is a valuable organic acid with diverse industrial applications.
- Efficient recovery methods are crucial for the economic viability of biotechnological LA production.
- Pilot-scale studies are essential to bridge laboratory findings and industrial implementation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the efficacy of micro- and nanofiltration for separating lactic acid from fermentation broths.
- To assess the impact of different media compositions (defined, acid whey, sugar bread, crust bread) on filtration performance.
- To determine LA losses and impurity rejection during membrane filtration processes.
Main Methods:
- Pilot-scale fermentation of lactic acid using glucose, acid whey, sugar bread, and crust bread as media.
- Sequential microfiltration for cell removal and nanofiltration for impurity separation.
- Analysis of permeate flux, LA retention, sugar rejection, and ion/protein removal.
Main Results:
- Microfiltration effectively removed microbial cells, with varying permeate flow fluxes depending on the medium.
- Nanofiltration achieved high rejection of residual sugars, proteins, and ions, with minimal LA loss in some cases.
- Crust bread medium showed the lowest flux and highest LA retention during microfiltration, while sugar bread medium resulted in significant sugar rejection during nanofiltration.
Conclusions:
- Micro- and nanofiltration are viable primary separation steps for biotechnologically produced lactic acid.
- Filtration performance is significantly influenced by the fermentation medium composition and LA concentration.
- Optimized membrane processes can enhance the efficiency and economic feasibility of industrial LA recovery.
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