Lactic Acid

Lactic acid (2-hydroxypropanoic acid) was discovered and isolated in 1780 by the
Swedish chemist Scheele in sour milk. It was first commercially produced in USA in
1881. Its early utilization was in the leather and textile industries. Lactic acid is
widely used in the food industry as an acidulant, preservative, precursor for
stearoyl-2-lactylates. Perhaps its greatest industrial potential is for biodegradable
polymers such as polylactic acid. Lactic acid can be produced by chemical synthesis
or by fermentation. Our research program on lactic acid began in the early 1980s
and focused on two major areas:

1. Bioreactor design to improve productivity of the fermentation

2. Downstream processing to recover lactic acid.

BIOREACTOR DESIGN

Based on past success with membrane bioreactors, we started work in 1983 on

continuous production of lactic acid. We designed a continuous membrane
bioreactor (CMB) as a continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) coupled in a semi closed
loop configuration to a membrane module, as shown in the diagram below.

Synthetic semi-permeable membranes are used to separate and recycle the lactic
acid bacteria, while simultaneously removing the lactate as it is formed. This has
several advantages over batch fermenters:

The continuous separation and recovery of the bacterial cells will reduce cycle
time of the fermenters, since there will be little or no time lost due to start-up
and shut down as in present batch fermenters.

The recycle of the cells will allow us to obtain much higher cell densities than
currently practiced. Laboratory studies have shown a 100-fold increase in cell
numbers in the CMB during operation. The high concentration allows us to
pump the feedstock through the fermenters much faster.
 "Cell wash-out" is eliminated, thereby allowing operation at dilution rates
greater than the specific growth rate of the organism.

The continuous removal of lactate allows us to maintain the fermenter at just

below the lactate level which inactivates the cells. Thus the cells are always
viable and producing lactate.

The graph illustrates the improvements to be expected with membrane-based

fermenters. In laboratory trials, productivities 10-20 times higher than batch
fermenters have been obtained. Other benefits have been observed:

The membrane bioreactors are very flexible, allowing a range of outputs that
can be matched very easily to the demands of upstream and downstream
operations.

The product stream from the fermenter is clear, containing no suspended

matter. This will improve the subsequent recovery and purification process,
with a further reduction in cost.

The membrane units are available in modular systems, making expansion easy.

Due to the high productivity, floor space requirements for the membrane
bioreactor system are much less than with present-day batch fermenters.

Another configuration we investigated was the hollow fiber bioreactor, which was
operated in a quasi plug flow mode. The CSTR-membrane configuration is preferred
since it is a well-mixed system that allows us to efficiently neutralize the
fermentation broth with the appropriate alkali (usually ammonium or sodium
hydroxide).

DOWNSTREAM PROCESSING

Lactic acid can be separated and substantially purified from fermentation broths by
several membrane-based unit operations as shown in the diagram below:

Microfiltration or ultrafiltration for cell separation and recycle

Nanofiltration for separation of the lactic acid from other broth components
using low rejection (LR) membranes

Concentrating the lactate using reverse osmosis (RO) or a combination of high

rejection (HR) and low rejection (LR) nanofiltration membranes

Electrodialysis (ED) for simultaneous separation and concentration of lactate. A

conventional anion-/cation-exchange membrane ED system will purify and
concentrate the lactate, but the lactate product will still be in the salt form (if
the salt form was produced in the fermentation). On the other hand, a bipolar
membrane ED system will result in the acid form of lactic acid and allow the
recycle of the alkali used for neutralizing the fermentation broth. This
minimizes alkali cost, as well as eliminating the waste product (e.g., calcium
sulfate) generated in conventional downstream processes for organic acids.

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Updated January 2006 by mcheryan@uiuc.edu