Separation of Sugar and Acid by Bipolar Membrane Electrodialysis

Bipolar membrane electrodialysis was found to be a feasible method for separation of acid and sugar produced from acidic hydrolysis of biomass. Effects on separation effectiveness by such factors as current intensity, voltage, operation time ,current efficiency and solution composition were studied. Results indicate that the separation of acid and sugar from acidic hydrolysis of biomass can be achieved with simultaneous recovery of HCl (w=0.01) and HAc(w=0.01). The future research should focus on improving the current efficiency and process economy.