Reactive Extraction of Propionic Acid Using Tri-n-octylamine

Abstract

Propionic acid has been received increasing attention due to its various usages as an antifungal agent in food and a chemical in the production of several chemical products. In order to develop an alternative production process of propionic acid such as fermentation of glycerol, the cost effective recovery process of propionic acid from its fermentation broth is needed. Differently from conventional physical extraction, long chain amine (TOA)-based extraction is the separation process using reactions between amine and materials extracted. The equilibrium distribution of propionic acid increased with amine concentration and decreased with increase of n-heptane composition in mixed diluents. From the loading values with TOA concentrations, it was found that the stoichiometries of acid-amine-1-octanol complex were (1,1) and (1,1,1). From this study, amine-based extraction can be promising separation process for the recovery of propionic acid.