Modeling of sodium acetate recovery from aqueous solutions by electrodialysis.

The main engineering parameters (i.e., ion transport numbers in solution and electro-membranes; effective solute and water transport numbers; effective membrane surface area, membrane surface resistances, and limiting current intensity) affecting the recovery of sodium acetate from model solutions by electrodialysis (ED) were determined in accordance with a sequential experimental procedure. Such parameters allowed a satisfactory simulation of a few validation tests carried out under constant or step-wisely variable current intensity. The performance of this ED process was characterized in terms of a current efficiency (omega) of about 93% in the constant-current region, a water transport number (t(W)) of about 15, and a specific energy consumption (epsilon) increasing from 0.14 to 0.31 kWh/kg for a solute recovery yield of 95% as the current density (j) was increased from 112 to 337 A/m2. The specific resistance of the anion- or cation-exchange membranes were found to be three or two times greater than those measured in aqueous NaCl solutions and are to be used to design and/or optimize ED stacks involved in the downstream processing of acetic acid fermentation broths. Copyright 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc