Extraction of succinic acid with 1-octanol/n-heptane solutions of mixed tertiary amine

The reactive extraction of succinic acid was carried out by mixed tertiary amine which consisted of tripropylamine (TPA) and trioctylamine (TOA) as the extraction agent in 1-octanol/n-heptane diluent. Maximum distribution coefficient was obtained at 8:2 weight ratio of TPA/TOA. At this ratio, its extraction efficiency is above 90% at the 3.9 wt.% of succinic acid in aqueous solution. Furthermore, the prevention of the third phase formation made the phase separation between organic phase and aqueous phase easy.