Modern method of lactic acid recovery from fermentation broth

Abstract

Electrodialysis was used for lactic acid recovery from fermentation broth. In the first step, lactate was recovered and concentrated by desalting electrodialysis, and the second step was electroconversion of lactate to lactic acid by water-splitting electrodialysis. The final lactic acid concentration of 151 g/l was obtained. Total energy required in both electrodialysis processes was about 1.5 kWh per 1 kg of lactic acid obtained. The fermentation broth had to be pretreated prior to the electrodialysis experiments. The pretreatment consisted of ultrafiltration, decolourisation, and the removal of multivalent metal ions.