Date of Award

8-2013

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Engineering (ME)

Legacy Department

Biosystems Engineering

Committee Chair/Advisor

Drapcho, Caye M

Committee Member

Nghiem , Nhuan P

Committee Member

Tharayil , Nishanth

Abstract

To offer an alternative pathway to produce calcium magnesium acetate (CMA) as an environmental friendly deicer to relieve the pressure on fossil fuels demand, a liquid-liquid extraction process was studied. This process includes using Aliquat 336 (tri-n-octylmethylammonium chloride) diluted in kerosene as an organic extractant to extract acetic acid from Thermotoga neapolitana fermentation spent medium, which contained 34 g/L of acetic acid and 10 g/L of NaCl.
The extraction efficiency of Aliquat 336 was studied under several different extraction conditions. The initial pH of the spent medium was adjusted to a pH range of 2.25 to 5.75 with a 0.5 pH interval to study the initial pH effect on Aliquat 336 extraction efficiency. Two different Aliquat 336 concentrations in kerosene (20% and 50% v/v) were made for comparison. The highest extraction efficiency of Aliquat 336 mixture was nearly 50% for fresh Aliquat 336 mixture at 50% concentration.
Na2CO3/Ca(OH)2 and Mg(OH)2 were used to recover the acetic acid from used Aliquat 336 mixture and produce NaCH3COOH and CMA at the same time. It was shown that the extraction efficiency of recovered Aliquat 336 was approximately 83% as high as the fresh one. The extraction efficiency of both fresh and recovered Aliquat 336 mixtures were greatly affected by the initial pH of the fermentation spent medium. Extraction efficiency were greatest in pH range of 2.25 to 3.75. A purity of 75% CMA was produced.

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