Recommended technique
Separation handle: Hydrophobic small molecule recovery.
Scope: Partition coefficient. CAPEX range: $200k-$1.5M.
Property comparison
| Property | Lactic Acid | Acetic Acid |
|---|---|---|
| Molecular weight | 90.08 Da | 60.05 Da |
| Solubility (water) | 1000 g/L | 1000 g/L |
| Charge | -1 | -1 |
| Isoelectric point | — | — |
| pKa | 3.86 | 4.76 |
| Density | 1.21 g/cm³ | 1.05 g/cm³ |
| Diffusion coefficient | 9.80e-06 cm²/s | 1.19e-05 cm²/s |
| Log P | -0.62 | -0.17 |
Process design walkthrough
Define your feed stream
Set Lactic Acid and Acetic Acid as components with their concentrations and physical properties. Use the molecule database to auto-populate properties.
Drop in Liquid-Liquid Extraction
Connect the feed inlet, configure operating parameters (MWCO, pH, eluent, residence time as relevant), and connect the two outlets to product and waste streams.
Run the simulation
untangle.bio calculates outlet concentrations using mass balance and the separation function for this technique. Iterate on parameters to optimise yield vs purity.
Add polishing if needed
If the single step doesn't meet your purity spec, add a second separation with a complementary handle (e.g., size after charge, hydrophobicity after size).
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is Liquid-Liquid Extraction the right choice for this pair?
Liquid-Liquid Extraction exploits hydrophobic small molecule recovery as the separation handle. The property gap between Lactic Acid and Acetic Acid on this axis is large enough to give a clean separation in a single step at industrially relevant flow rates.
What yield and purity can I expect?
Typical single-step recovery is 85-99% depending on operating conditions. Purity from a single liquid-liquid extraction step is in the 90-99% range; polishing steps push above 99.5%.
What does this step cost to operate?
Capital cost for Liquid-Liquid Extraction at biotech scale is in the $200k-$1.5M range. Operating cost depends on scale, feed concentration, and product value. See the technique page for details.
How do I design this in untangle.bio?
Drop a liquid-liquid extraction unit operation into the flowsheet, connect the feed stream containing both Lactic Acid and Acetic Acid, and the simulator will calculate mass balance and expected outlet concentrations using the molecule database properties.
Design this separation in untangle.bio
Build a flowsheet, simulate yield and purity, and estimate CAPEX for separating Lactic Acid from Acetic Acid.
Open untangle.bio