Lactic Acid Production from Whey Permeate via Upstream Mineral Precipitation
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Solution Overview
Problem
The dairy industry's whey by-products, rich in lactose and minerals, pose challenges for lactic acid production due to high mineral content, which inhibits bacterial growth and complicates lactic acid recovery through fermentation, making existing methods costly and inefficient.
Innovation Solution
A three-stage process involving upstream chemical precipitation to remove minerals, followed by bacterial fermentation of the clarified whey permeate to produce lactic acid salt, and downstream processing to recover pure lactic acid, optimizing the pH and reducing the need for expensive membrane separation technologies.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If whey by-product with high mineral content is used for fermentation, then lactic acid production can proceed, but bacterial growth is inhibited and fermentation efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by performing chemical precipitation upstream before fermentation to remove minerals from whey by-product. This pre-treatment creates a clarified substrate that supports bacterial growth and fermentation, resolving the contradiction by preparing the substrate in advance to eliminate harmful minerals while preserving lactose for lactic acid production.
2Productivity
If chemical precipitation is performed upstream to remove minerals, then bacterial fermentation efficiency is enhanced and lactic acid production increases, but additional processing steps are required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the mineral removal function into the upstream processing stage by combining chemical precipitation with the existing whey by-product treatment流程. This integration allows mineral removal to be performed as part of the substrate preparation before fermentation, enhancing lactic acid production without requiring separate downstream demineralisation equipment or complex membrane separation systems.
3Manufacturing precision
If membrane separation technology is used for demineralisation, then lactic acid recovery is achieved, but equipment cost and operational expense increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs cheap short-living objects by using chemical precipitation with readily available reagents (lime, caustic soda, or ammonia) instead of expensive membrane separation technology. These chemical agents can be easily added and removed, providing effective demineralisation without the high capital and operational costs associated with membrane systems, thus achieving lactic acid recovery at lower production cost.
4Manufacturing precision
If minerals are removed at downstream processing stage, then lactic acid purity can be improved, but more complicated and expensive separation technology is required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by performing mineral removal upstream before fermentation rather than at the downstream processing stage. This approach simplifies downstream operations because the fermentation broth already has reduced mineral content, eliminating the need for complex membrane separation or electrodialysis equipment that would otherwise be required to achieve the same purity levels after fermentation.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This process enhances lactic acid production from 100 g/L to 130 g/L, reduces production costs, and results in high-purity lactic acid with improved bacterial fermentation efficiency and easier waste disposal, making it economically advantageous compared to prior methods.
Implementation Method 1
neutralising the whey by-product with a base, for example an alkali metal hydroxide which typically precipitates out over 50% of the calcium and phosphate salts which can be removed from the substrate by a separation process such as centrifugation
Implementation Method 2
bacterial fermentation of the clarified whey permeate to provide a fermentation broth comprising a lactic acid
Implementation Method 3
the fermentation broth is subjected to acidification to release lactic acid from the lactic acid salt
Data Source
AI summary
A process for producing pure lactic acid from a whey by-product rich in lactose and minerals, for example delactosed why permeate or concentrated whey permeate, is described. The method comprises upstream steps of neutralising the whey by-product with a basic metal hydroxide to form a precipitate comprising calcium and phosphate, and separating the precipitate from the whey by-product to provide a clarified whey by-product. The clarified whey by-product is fermentated by a bacterium capable of bioconversion of lactose to lactic acid to provide a fermentation broth containing a lactic acid salt. In the downstream steps, the fermentation broth is acidified to release lactic acid from the lactic acid salt, precipitate from the broth produced by acidification is removed, and the acidified fermentation broth is treated to recover pure lactic acid by removal of residual salts, and water, and optionally protein. The process of the invention produces lactic acid having a purity of 80-98% and an isomeric purity of >98% L-lactic acid using a process that employs upstream removal of divalent salts by chemical precipitation, bacterial fermentation of the demineralised substrate, and minimum downstream processing of the fermentation broth. The methods of the invention may also be employed with milk permeates.