Kinetics and adsorption isotherm of lactic acid from fermentation broth onto activated charcoal

Activated charcoal was applied for the recovery of lactic acid in undissociated form from fermentation broth. Lactic acid was obtained from the fermentation of Lactobacillus casei TISTR 1340 using acid hydrolyzed Jerusalem artichoke as a carbon source. The equilibrium adsorption isotherm and kinetics for the lactic acid separation were investigated. The experimental data for lactic acid adsorption from fermentation broth were best described by the Freundlich isotherm and the pseudo-second order kinetics with R2 values of 0.99. The initial adsorption rate was 41.32 mg/g⋅min at the initial lactic acid concentration of 40 g/L.