Recovery of 3-hydroxypropionic acid from organic phases after reactive extraction with amines in an alcohol-type solvent

F. Chemarin (1, 2) , M. Moussa (3) , F. Allais (2) , Ioan-Cristian Trelea (3) , V. Athes (3)

1 CEBB - Centre Européen de Biotechnologies et Bioéconomie
2 ABI - Agro-Biotechnologies Industrielles
3 GMPA - Génie et Microbiologie des Procédés Alimentaires

Reactive extraction is a well-known method for the recovery of organic acids from dilute streams. The extraction through complex formation with amines is followed by its back-extraction. Their affinity for amine extractants makes their back-extraction a limiting step. The case of 3-hydroxypropionic acid is addressed here. Three methods were compared: salts additions, diluent swing and temperature swing. Mineral bases led to complete 3-HP recovery but as a salt. Diluent swing was tested using n-hexane as the anti-solvent. Results showed that increasing the n-hexane content led to a great increase of 3-HP recovery. However, high recovery yields are associated with high dilutions. The temperature was varied from 4 to 140 °C and it led to a high decrease of the acid-amine complex formation. Our thermochemical study showed an apparent heat of reaction of-25.3 kJ/mol and, at 140 °C, 78% of 3-HP can be recovered in a single step.

Mots clés: diluent swing; back-extraction; temperature swing; pH swing

Domaines: Génie chimique; Génie des procédés

F. Chemarin, M. Moussa, F. Allais, Ioan-Cristian Trelea, V. Athes. Recovery of 3-hydroxypropionic acid from organic phases after reactive extraction with amines in an alcohol-type solvent. Separation and Purification Technology, 2019, 219, pp.260-267. ⟨10.1016/j.seppur.2019.02.026⟩. ⟨hal-02560888⟩