Influence of the kind and concentration of ethoxylated alcohols on the transport of citric acid through polymer inclusion membranes

Abstract

Research into the infl uence of ethoxylated alcohols on the citric acid transport through polymer inclusion membranes (PIMs) has been carried out. This process may be used in the future as one of the methods of citric acid isolation. Ethoxylated alcohols, which were GENAPOL® X020, X060 and X150, served as both: plasticizer and carrier. The results showed that the maximum values of citric acid fl ux [mol/(m 2 . s)] were equal to: 1.02 . 10 -4 (X020), 1.57 . 10 -4(X060) and 1.77 . 10 -4 (X150). The obtained results allow proceeding further study on using the polymer inclusion membranes, as an alternative to traditional methods of citric acid separation, which are precipitation and extraction.