Code
1S99426N
Duration
01 November 2025 → 31 October 2029
Funding
Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO)
Promotor
Research disciplines
-
Engineering and technology
- Modelling, simulation and optimisation
- Intensification
- Separation technologies
- Sustainable development
- Bioprocessing, bioproduction and bioproducts
Keywords
Purification of biobased organic acids
In situ product recovery
Process intensification
Project description
While the demand for biobased organic acids is ever-increasing in light of the shift towards a sustainable bioeconomy, their separation from complex, dilute fermentation broths remains a major hurdle in cost-effective biobased manufacturing to date. This research project proposes an innovative separation technology based on solvent-impregnated resins (SIRs), where the high extraction capacity of reactive liquid-liquid extraction is combined with the cost-efficiency, stability, and scalability of adsorption resins. Firstly, by increasing understanding of the extraction behaviour of organic acids when using novel SIRs in the context of fermentation, we aim to lay the groundworks for a versatile and robust platform technology to boost the biobased production of organic acids. Translating this to an industrial process, a packed-bed column set-up will be designed and demonstrated for the first-time use of SIRs to extract acetic acid from fermentation. Beyond this, the technology will also be investigated in an in situ product recovery (ISPR) approach to yield a continuous, concentrated product stream while improving fermentation performance by alleviating product inhibition and pH control. To gain a first view on the performance and sustainability of the technology at an industrial level, it will be modelled, thoroughly assessed, and benchmarked against current industrial separation technologies in the framework of a research mobility at CERTH, Greece.