Dialytic transport of carboxylic acids through an anion exchange membrane

摘要

The transport behavior of five carboxylic acids of relevance in biotechnology (acetic, propionic, lactic, oxalic, citric) in diffusion dialysis and neutralization dialysis through an anion exchange membrane is investigated. The dependence of acid anion Aux on base concentration in neutralization dialysis is analyzed in terms of two limiting situations (boundary layer control and membrane control) by an empirical two-parameter flux equation in formal analogy to a Langmuir function. When coupled to a life fermenter, neutralization dialysis is a means to control the pH of the fermentation medium. By removing biotoxic acids, it improves microbial productivity, as exemplified with the Propioni system producing vitamin B-12 and propionic acid. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. [References: 7]