Reactive Extraction of Butyric Acid using Tri-Octyl Amine in Decanol

Abstract

Reactive extraction is a separation technique using the reaction between extractant and the material to be extracted. The extractant present in the organic phase reacts with the material present in the aqueous phase and the reaction complexes thus formed are solubilized in the organic phase. The application of reactive extraction for separating Butyric Acid (BA) from its aqueous solution is a new technique. Butyric acid (BA, CH3CH2CH2CO2H) also known as butanoic acid, abbreviated as BTA, is a short chain carboxylic acid. It has many important applications in various industries. It can be used as an energy source by converting into butanol by biological conversions. It is anti carcinogenic, as it induces morphological and biochemical differentiation in a range of cells, which leads to concomitant suppression of neoplastic properties and presently it is being used as a precursor to biofuels. It is a promising chemical as it has the potential for future energy needs by converting into butanol through biological transformation. Study of effect of pH on reactive extraction process is essential because pH varies as the process of reactive extraction proceeds. Normally pH of solution containing acid is below pKa values of the respective acid but as the extraction proceeds, due the removal of the acid, pH approaches near 7.0. Thus for reactive extraction process an extractant-diluent combination is required which could recover the acid efficiently at all pHs . Fermentation process usually operates in the temperature range of 305 to 313 K. Thus an extractant is effective only if it operates efficiently in this temperature range. In addition to this, the climate variation, feed and bioreactor conditions makes the study of temperature effect even more important.