Reactive extraction for Succinic acid separation from model fermentation broth with tributylamine in 1-decanol

Most of the succinic acid used for industrial purposes is produced through a chemical process using fossil fuels as the raw material, where it is an environmentally unfriendly process. Therefore, the research for bio-succinic acid production through fermentation is increasing. Unfortunately, fermentation produces by-products. Consequently, an effective and highly selective separation method is needed. One of the commonly used separation methods is reactive extraction using tertiary amines as the extractants and primary alcohol as the diluent. This study used tributylamine as the extractant and 1-decanol as the diluent with variations of extractant concentration. The extraction was done to a model fermentation broth, which consists of four components. The components were succinic acid, formic acid, acetic acid, and lactic acid with the initial concentration of succinic acid as the variations. These variations were used to determine the optimal concentration for succinic acid extraction from the fermentation broth model. The aqueous phase was then analyzed using High-Performances Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) to determine the concentration of succinic acid. These concentrations were then used for the calculation of distribution coefficient, loading ratio, and extraction efficiency. Based on the result, the highest distribution coefficient and loading ratio of 9.02 and 0.20, respectively, were obtained at the model fermentation broth with an initial concentration of succinic acid at 10 g/L. Meanwhile, the highest extraction efficiency was obtained using the model fermentation broth with an initial concentration of succinic acid at 5 g/L, which was 90%.