Modeling and analysis of hybrid reactive stripper-membrane process for lactic acid recovery

Abstract

Lactic acid (LA) is a bioproduct that finds many applications in bioplastics, pharmaceuticals, food, preservatives, cosmetics, and fertilizers. The bulk production of LA is carried through the microbial fermentation of renewable feedstock. However, LA separation from dilute fermentation broth and its further concentration are energy intensive and expensive. The present work proposes a hybrid reactive stripper-membrane (RSM) technology as an effective alternative for producing LA. Performance of RSM process for the hydrolysis of methyl lactate to produce 88 and 50 wt % LA is investigated by modeling and simulation and then compared with one of the best technologies in the literature, i.e., reactive distillation (RD). Results show that, for producing 88 wt % LA, the RSM process increases methyl lactate conversion by 5.6% and also reduces energy cost by 29%, compared to the RD process. For 50 wt % LA, it lowers energy cost by 28% and also eliminates the three-stage evaporator system, compared to the RD process. © 2013 American Chemical Society.