High Silica Zeolites as an Alternative to Weak Base Adsorbents in Succinic Acid Recovery. Initial studies were performed on succinic acid(cas:110-15-6) adsorption from aqueous solutions by zeolite powders. CVB-28014 (high-silica ZSM-5) showed higher equilibrium loadings (up to 0.16 g/g) than CBV-901 and CP811C-300, and was used for follow up studies.

In the presence of Na + counterions, the succinic acid adsorption decreased in parallel with the succinic acid(cas:110-15-6) dissociation, but the adsorbent also showed some affinity toward sodium hydrogensuccinate with selectivities in the range 10-20 toward succinic acid.

The presence of acetic acid resulted in lower succinic acid(cas:110-15-6) loadings but the capacities remained sufficient for efficient recovery. The selectivity between succinic acid(cas:110-15-6) and acetic acid ranged from 1 to 6. Increasing the temperature to 70C reduced the equilibrium loadings, but in ethanol the succinic acid loadings showed a more significant drop. Therefore, regeneration might be achieved by using an adsorption-competitive solvent like ethanol.

The current results suggest that this may lead to an attractive option for the recovery of succinic acid(cas:110-15-6) from fermentation media. Hydrophobic rather than ionic interactions are used, thus avoiding regeneration involving acid and base and the associated waste salt production.