Sustainable production and purification of succinic acid: A review of membrane-integrated green approach

Abstract

This review article presents a comprehensive literature survey over the last two decades on the evaluation of production processes of succinic acid (SA) to further direct the research towards the membranebased sustainable and economical production. The traditional chemical and petrochemical-based industries desperately need to switch from the conventional polluting and energy-intensive processes by the clean and green processes due to growing environmental concern, strict discharge limit and emaciated profit margin in a competitive world market. In recent years, the prospect for process intensification by the integration of highly selective customized membranes in an appropriate module with conventional fermenter for downstream separation, purification and concentration of SA seems imminent with the expectation of a turnaround in biochemical industries. Through a comprehensive literature survey of critical aspects, the review article has suggested a novel approach on the application of a multi-staged membrane-based system for the manufacturing of SA leading to the prospect of sustainable business.