Effective isolation of succinic acid from aqueous media with the use of anion exchange resins

Abstract

The primary objective of this study was to examine the isolation of succinic acid (SA) from aqueous-based solutions through the utilization of adsorption and ion exchange methods. Four kinds of anion exchange resins were employed, two of which were strong basic (Lewatit M-500 and Lewatit M-600), and the other two were weak basic (Lewatit MP-64 and Lewatit MP-62). The impacts of various variables on the efficiency of the process were examined. The aqueous pH strongly influenced the separation yield. Weak basic exchangers achieved the maximum yield at pH 2.1. However, the highest performance with Lewatit M-600 and Lewatit M-500 was obtained at pH 5 and 6, respectively. The SA separation with the tested resins reached equilibrium in about an hour. The recovery data revealed consistency with the Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-second-order kinetics. Efficiency improved with resin dosage and reduced with SA concentration. It was found that weak basic anion exchange resins were more efficient than strong basic exchangers for the recovery process. Among the resins tested, Lewatit MP-62 demonstrated the highest sorption capacity of 321 mg g⁻¹ and 97.5% yield. The performance of the system decreased with temperature for all alternatives tested; however, its impact was not notable. The isolation process had an exergonic, exothermic, and favorable character based on the thermodynamic constants. Acid-loaded resins were successfully regenerated using trimethylamine and HCl for weak and strong anion exchange resins, respectively.