초록 |
The recovery of high purity lactic acid was studied. In order to separate lactic acid from impurities added during the fermentation process, coupled distillation columns were used. The process consists of two parts: the esterification part and the hydrolysis part. In the esterification part, lactic acid to be purified reacts with methanol and the products, methyl lactate and water, are separated by distillation. Simultaneously, methyl lactate and water are moved to the hydrolysis part and pure lactic acid is produced by hydrolysis reaction. Produced methanol is recovered to the esterification part and stimulates the esterification reaction. Calculation results obtained from a series of simple balance equations agreed to the experimental data. Increasing the number of the stages of the column was able to obtain more effective recovery of the lactic acid. Comparison of DOWEX50W and Amberlyst15Wet for the recovery behavior was studied.
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