Process for making acrylic acid from dextrose

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10308582-B2
Application number	US-201515532397-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 23, 2015
Priority date	Dec 2, 2014
Publication date	Jun 4, 2019
Grant date	Jun 4, 2019

Abstract

A process is described for making acrylic acid from dextrose, which comprises fermenting dextrose; removing solids from the resulting fermentation broth; removing lactic acid from the clarified broth by extraction into an organic solvent; separating out the lactic acid-loaded organic solvent while recycling at least a portion of the remainder back to the fermentation step; reacting the lactic acid with ammonia to provide a dehydration feed comprising ammonium lactate while preferably recycling the organic solvent; carrying out a vapor phase dehydration of the ammonium lactate to produce a crude acrylic acid product; and purifying the crude acrylic acid by distillation followed by melt crystallization, chromatography or both melt crystallization and chromatography.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A process for making acrylic acid from dextrose, comprising:
a. fermenting dextrose in the presence of a biological catalyst to produce a fermentation broth containing lactic acid;
b. removing solids from the fermentation broth to produce a clarified fermentation broth;
c. removing lactic acid from the clarified fermentation broth by extraction into an organic solvent;
d. separating the lactic acid-loaded organic solvent from the fermentation broth remainder after lactic acid has been removed therefrom;
e. recycling at least a portion of the fermentation broth remainder to the fermentation step;
f. reacting lactic acid in the lactic acid-loaded solvent with ammonia to provide a crude dehydration feed comprising ammonium lactate;
g. separating ammonium lactate from organic solvent in the crude dehydration feed to provide a dehydration feed;
h. carrying out a vapor phase dehydration of ammonium lactate in the dehydration feed to produce a crude acrylic acid product;
i. purifying the crude acrylic acid product to provide a purified acrylic acid product, by a process including
a first distillation to remove acetaldehyde and ammonia overhead and provide a bottoms stream comprised predominantly of acrylic acid and propionic acid, and
a second distillation of the bottoms stream from the first distillation to provide a second distillation overhead stream enriched in acrylic acid and a second distillation bottoms stream enriched in propionic acid; and,
j. further purifying the acrylic acid in the second distillation overhead stream by contacting with an the amphoteric ion exchange resin to separate and elute propionic acid into a raffinate or both melt crystallization and by contacting with an the amphoteric ion exchange resin to separate and elute propionic acid into a raffinate.

2. A process according to claim 1 , wherein the purified acrylic acid product of step j) contains less than 3000 ppm by weight of propionic acid.

3. A process according to claim 2 , wherein the purified acrylic acid product of step j) contains less than 1000 ppm by weight of propionic acid.

4. A process according to claim 1 , wherein the separation of lactic acid from the clarified fermentation broth comprises the use of one or more hydrophilic nanofiltration membranes.

5. A process according to claim 1 , wherein the fermentation of dextrose comprises the use of an acid-resistant transformant of Schizosaccharomyces pombe , a recombinant strain of Schizosaccharomyces pombe or an acid-tolerant yeast strain comprising a genome that includes an exogenous lactate dehydrogenase gene.

6. A process according to claim 5 , wherein the further purification involves both melt crystallization and adsorption onto an amphoteric ion exchange resin.

7. A process according to claim 1 , wherein the contacting is accomplished in a series of columns and the eluent passes through the columns as a simulated moving bed.

8. A process according to claim 1 wherein the amphoteric ion exchange resin has a quaternary ammonium group and a carboxy group incorporated on a cross-linked polystyrene frame.

9. A process according to either of claim 1 wherein an eluent of water or of water in combination with an organic solvent is used in step j).

10. A process according to claim 9 , wherein the organic solvent is methanol or acetone.

Assignees

• Archer Daniels Midland Co

Inventors

• Binder Thomas
• Hilaly Ahmad K
• Sudharsan Naveen S
• Mani Kris N
• Schultz Mitchell

Classifications

• B01D15/1821

  Simulated moving beds · CPC title

• C07C51/47

  by solid-liquid treatment; by chemisorption · CPC title

• B01J43/00

  Amphoteric ion-exchange, i.e. using ion-exchangers having cationic and anionic groups; Use of material as amphoteric ion-exchangers; Treatment of material for improving their amphoteric ion-exchange properties (ion-exchange chromatography processes B01D15/36) · CPC title

• C07C51/412

  by conversion of the acids, their salts, esters or anhydrides with the same carboxylic acid part · CPC title

• C07C51/377 Primary

  by splitting-off hydrogen or functional groups; by hydrogenolysis of functional groups {(C07C51/36 - C07C51/373 take precedence)} · CPC title