The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 12, 2004
Filed:
Jan. 10, 2002
Kevin M. Moore, Mt. Zion, IL (US);
Alexandra J. Sanborn, Lincoln, IL (US);
Archer-Daniels-Midland Company, Decatur, IL (US);
Abstract
The present invention relates to a process for the recovery of an organic acid from a fermentation broth which comprises drying the fermentation broth to obtain a dried product, adding the dried product to a lower alcohol in the presence of an acid, and then removing the insoluble material to obtain an organic acid. In accordance with the recovery process of the present invention, organic acids of a high purity can be recovered in high yields from the whole fermentation solution containing various impurities with fewer steps as compared with conventional methods. In an embodiment, the fermentation broth is a whole broth containing insolubles including all microbial biomass present after fermentation. The insolubles are not separated until the organic acid is recovered. Prior to recovery, the organic acid may be esterified to the corresponding ester, and the insolubles are removed to recover the ester.