Abstract
The bioproduction of acetic acid is not economically attractive at present due to the high cost of its recovery from the fermentation broth. Adsorption of acetic acid at pH ∼ 3 is examined in this research in different adsorber configurations to examine enhancements to bed capacity utilization and the potential for use of this technology. Four different fixed-bed configurations, namely, a conventional cylindrical fixed-bed with single particle size, a cylindrical bed stratified with increasing particle sizes in the direction of flow, a reverse stratified cylindrical bed, and a reverse stratified convergent tapered bed were studied in this research. The conventional stratified cylindrical adsorber was found to produce a dispersive solute front in the column whereas, the reverse stratified tapered bed was found to produce a sharpening solute front. Among the different configurations examined, the convergent tapered stratified bed was found to give the maximum bed capacity utilization under the same operating conditions. A general rate mathematical model was found to provide good representation of the physical phenomena. Sensitivity analyses show differing effects of operating variables and mass transfer parameters on performance based on bed configuration. The model presented will allow the selection of optimum operating conditions for maximum bed capacity utilization, and thereby enhance the economics of acetic acid recovery from fermentation broths.
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