The extraction of lactic acid with sulfur dioxide

Abstract This paper studies the reaction between SO 2 and calcium lactate, which potentially can be used to recover lactic acid from the anaerobic fermentation broth of an SO 2 waste stream. The conversion of given amounts of calcium lactate to lactic acid was evaluated under different reaction temperatures and flow rates of SO 2 . Analyses of concentrations of the produced lactic acid indicated that the reactions between SO 2 and calcium lactate were complete under all experimental conditions.