PURIFICATION OF 3-HYDROXYPROPIONIC ACID FROM CRUDE CELL BROTH AND PRODUCTION OF ACRYLAMIDE
A process for producing high purity 3-hydroxypropionic acid from a fermentation cell broth is described. The 3-hydroxypropionic acid can be converted to a variety of products, such as acrylamide, 3-hydroxypropionic esters, acrylic esters, and 3-HP amide. This process features a high degree of product flexibility, limited or no solvent recycle, discrete waste streams, an efficient water removal process, and efficient recovery of products and solvents with proven and scalable equipment.
1 . A process for producing high purity 3-hydroxypropionic acid (3-HP), comprising: (a) providing a fermentation broth comprising 3-HP, or salt thereof; (b) removing a substantial amount of water from said fermentation broth to give a concentrated fermentation broth; (c) extracting said 3-HP from said concentrated fermentation broth with an organic solvent; and (d) distilling the extract from step (c) to give said high purity 3-HP and/or its ester.
2 . The process of claim 1 , wherein said high purity 3-HP has purity higher than 90%.
3 . The process of claim 1 , wherein said high purity 3-HP has purity higher than 95%.
4 . The process of claim 1 , wherein a substantial amount of whole cells are removed from said fermentation broth either prior to or after step (a).
5 . (canceled)
6 . The process of claim 4 , wherein said substantial amount of whole cells are removed with a centrifuge.
7 . The process of claim 1 , wherein said removing a substantial amount of water is performed by evaporation or with mechanical recompression methods or with a thin film evaporator.
8 . The process of claim 7 , wherein said evaporation is carried out at a temperature range from 50-150° C.
9 . The process of claim 7 , wherein said evaporation is carried out at a reduced pressure from 20-1,000 mbar.
10 . (canceled)
11 . (canceled)
12 . The process of claim 1 , wherein at least 80% of water in said fermentation broth is removed.
13 . The process of claim 1 , wherein at least 90% of water in said fermentation broth is removed.
14 . The process of claim 1 , wherein at least 95% of water in said fermentation broth is removed.
15 . (canceled)
16 . (canceled)
17 . The process of claim 1 , further comprising adjusting pH of said concentrated fermentation broth with an acid after step (b).
18 . The process of claim 17 , wherein said acid is sulfuric acid or phosphoric acid.
19 . (canceled)
20 . The process of claim 17 , further comprising separating any resulting solids during or after the addition of said acid.
21 . The process of claim 1 , wherein said organic solvent is selected from the group consisting of: an alcohol, aldehyde, ketone, and ether.
22 . The process of claim 1 , wherein said organic solvent comprises an alcohol solvent selected from the group consisting of C 1 -C 12 aliphatic alcohols.
23 . The process of claim 1 , wherein said organic solvent comprises an alcohol solvent selected from the group consisting of methanol, ethanol, propanol, butanol, and hexanol.
24 . (canceled)
25 . (canceled)
26 . (canceled)
27 . (canceled)
28 . The process of claim 1 , wherein about 90% of 3-HP is recovered from said concentrated fermentation broth after step (b).
29 . The process of claim 1 , further comprising refluxing and/or distilling the 3-HP containing extract to generate a 3-HP ester.
30 . The process of claim 29 , wherein said refluxing comprises adding a catalytic amount of acid.
31 . The process of claim 30 , wherein said acid is sulfuric acid.
32 . The process of claim 29 , further comprising carrying out an amidation reaction to generate a 3-HP amide.
33 . The process of claim 32 , further comprising a dehydration reaction to generate acrylamide.
34 . The process of claim 29 , wherein less than two equivalents of an alcohol solvent based on the amount of 3-HP is used to produce said 3-HP ester.
35 . The process of claim 34 , wherein about one equivalent of said alcohol solvent based on the amount of 3-HP is used to produce said 3-HP ester.
36 .- 47 . (canceled)