Process simulation of the reactive distillation using various ethanol-to-lactic acid ratios for the purification of lactic acid produced by fermentation
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Author list: Salisa Dachboon, Suchanya Junsen, Sasithon Singbun, and Anawat Sungpet
Publication year: 2024
Title of series: The 33rd Thai Institute of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry International Conference TIChE2024
Start page: 100
End page: 107
Number of pages: 8
URL: https://tiche.org/tiche2024/
Abstract
The objective of this study was to know the effects of the molar ratios between ethanol to lactic acid on the process that used reactive distillation columns to purify lactic acid obtained from the fermentation. Aspen Plus V.10 was used to simulate the process to produce 88 wt. % lactic acid. The molar ratios of ethanol to lactic acid were 3:1, 4:1, and 5:1. The simulation results showed that if the reboiler duty was the same for all ratios, the purity of lactic acid decreased with the increase of the molar ratio. This was because the temperature profiles in the column decreased, leading to the lesser extent of the reactions. When the reboiler duty was adjusted to generate similar temperature profiles, the purity of lactic acid increased to the specified value. When the conversion %, the lactic acid production rate, and the energy utilization were considered, the molar ratio of 3:1 provided the highest conversion % and the production rate. The reboiler duty of the columns was also the least.
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