Reactive extraction of propionic acid using trioctylamine in 1–decanol by response surface methodology optimization technique

Abstract

Reactive extraction, a novel technique, was experimentally investigated for the removal of propionic acid, which is usually present in low concentrations in aqueous solutions. The experiments were conducted according to statistical design to develop an appropriate regression model. This was aimed at analyzing and optimizing the process variables and extraction efficiency for propionic acid reactive extraction from dilute aqueous streams using trioctylamine as extractant and 1-decanol as organic diluent. Response surface methodology in combination with Box–Behnken design involving 17 experimental runs was utilized for the propionic acid reactive extraction in this study. Three independent process variables were chosen as temperature (T), initial propionic acid concentration (CPAO) in the aqueous phase and trioctylamine composition (CTOA) in the organic phase. The statistical design analysis demonstrated that the propionic acid concentration and TOA composition had a significant effect while temperature had an insignificant effect on the response value as well as an interactive and quadratic effect on the response. The optimum conditions for propionic acid extraction were established as T = 300.752 K, CTOA = 18.252 %v/v, CPAO = 0.408 kmol/m3. Under these optimum conditions, the propionic acid experimental extraction yield was 89.788 %, which was in close conformity with the predicted yield value of 91.939 %.

Equilibrium study on the reactive extraction of heterocyclic monocarboxylic acids from the aqueous solution using Alamine 300/diluent composite solvent: Optimization and modeling of the solvent effect

“…Reactive extraction method offers several advantages: it is a clean and economical method, energy efficient and can be used at industrial scale with existing equipment applied to different carboxylic acids 31–40 . In order to extend experimental knowledge and to improve theoretical approaches, extensive studies on reactive extraction for the separation of different carboxylic acids have been carried out recently 31–40 .…”

“…Reactive extraction method offers several advantages: it is a clean and economical method, energy efficient and can be used at industrial scale with existing equipment applied to different carboxylic acids 31–40 . In order to extend experimental knowledge and to improve theoretical approaches, extensive studies on reactive extraction for the separation of different carboxylic acids have been carried out recently 31–40 . The study on reactive extraction of 2‐ketogluconic acid by Georgiana et al 31 has focused on analyzing the pH‐dependent extraction performance and the molar ratios of acid and extractant Amberlite LA‐2 dissolved in three solvents with 1‐octanol as phase modifier.…”

“…For the separation of succinic acid from fermentation broth, Alexandri et al 32 analyzed different separation techniques: calcium precipitation, direct crystallization using acidification with sulfuric acid or cation‐exchange resins, salting‐out, and reactive extraction, obtaining for the reactive extraction the higher purity for the crystals of 97.2% and a total yield for the downstream process of 73%. The reactive extraction technique is used widely by Inyang and Lokhat 33–35 to enhance the extraction yield for effective recovery of malic, propionic, and butyric acids from dilute aqueous solution by employing trioctylamine as extractant and 1‐decanol as diluent. The experiments were conducted according to statistical design to develop an appropriate regression model using response surface methodology (RSM) in combination with a Box–Behnken design to maximize the efficiency of the acid recovery (% E ).…”

“…The experiments were conducted according to statistical design to develop an appropriate regression model using response surface methodology (RSM) in combination with a Box–Behnken design to maximize the efficiency of the acid recovery (% E ). Inyang and Lokhat 33–35 have found that three major factors influenced the reactive extraction process, namely, temperature, the concentration of the extractant, and the initial concentration of the acid. The statistical design of experiment was used for process parameter optimization for the acid extraction to prevent drawbacks obtained from classical methods 33–35 .…”

“…Inyang and Lokhat 33–35 have found that three major factors influenced the reactive extraction process, namely, temperature, the concentration of the extractant, and the initial concentration of the acid. The statistical design of experiment was used for process parameter optimization for the acid extraction to prevent drawbacks obtained from classical methods 33–35 . The experimental work by Brouwer et al 36 was focused on reactive extraction and recovery of levulinic acid, formic acid, and furfural from aqueous solutions containing sulphuric acid.…”