Nonionic surfactant-based cloud point extraction of polyhydroxyalkanoate from the fermentation crude in a rotating disc contactor

Nonionic surfactant-based cloud point extraction of polyhydroxyalkanoate from fermentation broth was implemented in a modified rotating disc contactor. The effect of rotor speed and phase flowrates on dispersed micellar phase holdup, mass transfer coefficient, yield, and purity were studied with micellar system contains TX114 (4.5 wt %)+ TMN6 (0.5 wt %) and 0.1 M ammonium chloride at broth pH of 3. The rotor speed and the micellar phase flowrate had a significant effect. A maximum PHA recovery of 85.48% and purity of 86.01% were achieved. The correlation was developed to predict the dispersed-phase holdup.

Automated summary

The nonionic surfactant-based cloud point extraction method was successfully implemented in a modified device to extract polyhydroxyalkanoate from fermentation broth. By studying the effect of rotor speed and phase flowrates, higher recovery rate and purity were achieved, while a correlation model was developed for predicting dispersed-phase holdup.