Liquid Membrane Component Selection for Succinic Acid Extraction

Succinic acid has received an upsurge interest in many industries due to its high product values and can be used in various applications. The purification cost for succinic acid from fermentation process was higher than the production cost, and the stock for succinic acid is limited. Thus, it is essential to develop an economical method to extract and purify the succinic acid. One of the promising methods is emulsion liquid membrane (ELM) process. In this study, ELM system will be developed to recover succinic acid from a simulated succinic acid fermentation broth through the selection of liquid membrane component using liquid-liquid extraction method. Several parameters such as different types of carrier, diluent, and stripping agent were investigated. The results show that the suitable carrier is Amberlite LA-2 with 87.2% of succinic acid extraction, the diluent is kerosene with 5% 1-octanol and the stripping agent is sodium hydroxide (NaOH) were selected as a main component for liquid membrane formulation.