Recovery of Acetic Acid from An Ethanol Fermentation Broth by Liquid-Liquid Extraction (LLE) Using Various Solvents

Abstract

Liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) using various solvents was studied for recovery of acetic acid from a synthetic ethanol fermentation broth. The microbial fermentation of sugars presented in hydrolyzate gives rise to acetic acid as a byproduct. In order to obtain pure ethanol for use as a biofuel, fermentation broth should be subjected to acetic acid removal step and the recovered acetic acid can be put to industrial use. Herein, batch LLE experiments were carried out at 25 degrees C using a synthetic fermentation broth comprising 20.0 g l(-1) acetic acid and 5.0 g l(-1) ethanol. Ethyl acetate (EtOAc), tri-n-octylphosphine oxide (TOPO), tri-n-octylamine (TOA), and tri-n-alkylphosphine oxide (TAPO) were utilized as solvents, and the extraction potential of each solvent was evaluated by varying the organic phase-to-aqueous phase ratios as 0.2, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, and 4.0. The highest acetic acid extraction yield was achieved with TAPO; however, the lowest ethanol-to-acetic acid extraction ratio was obtained using TOPO. In a single-stage batch extraction, 97.0 % and 92.4 % of acetic acid could be extracted using TAPO and TOPO when the ratio of organic-to-aqueous phases is 4:1 respectively. A higher solvent-to-feed ratio resulted in an increase in the ethanol-to-acetic acid ratio, which decreased both acetic acid purity and acetic acid extraction yield.