ABSTRACT

166The removal of volatile fatty acids were examined through adsorption on anion exchange resins in batch systems. During the initial screening step, granular activated carbon and 11 anion exchange resins were tested and the resins Amberlite IRA-67 and Dowex optipore L-493 were chosen for further investigation. The adsorption kinetics and diffusion mechanism and adsorption isotherms of the two resins for VFA were evaluated. Based on the selective adsorption capacity of the resins, a sequential batch process was tested to achieve separation of acetic acid from the VFA mixture and selective recoveries >85% acetic acid and ~75% propionic acid was achieved.