Boreskov Institute of Catalysis SB RAS, Novosibirsk, Russia

OP-2-8PROCESS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF BUTYL LACTATEProkhorov Alexiy 1 , Shvets Valeriy 1 , Suchkov Yuriy 1 , Kozlovskiy Ivan 1 ,Kozlovskiy Roman 1 , Kapustin Alexey 21 D. Mendeleev University, Moskow, Miusskaya sq., 9, proxorov.al@mail.ru2 Azov State University, Mariupol, 87500, UkraineButyl lactate (BL) is high-boiling, nontoxic and biodegradable substance andbecause of its properties BL is widely used as a solvent for nitrocellulose, oils, dyes,natural gums, many synthetic polymers etc., supplanting traditional toxic solvents andreagents (aromatic and chloroorganic compounds). Besides BL is a key intermediatefor production of many chemicals such as, lactide, propylene glycol, herbicide,medicine, food or cosmetic additive, etc.The periodical method of processing of a solution of ammonium lactate producedby fermentation to lactic acid esters by reaction of an aqueous ammonium L-lactatesolution (68%) with alcohol is known. Preferably, the reaction is carried out in thebath reactor under reflux. The eliminated ammonia and water together with alcohol(azeotropic mixture) remove from system. Reaction time for noncatalytic reaction isfrom 10 to 17 hours.In present work the influence of different catalysts on the rate of esterification ofammonium lactate with butanol was investigated. Estimation of efficiency of catalystswas carried out by comparison of rates of elimination of water.Also, influence of different methods of cleaning of solutions of ammonium lactate(by using of different absorbents, coagulants and others substances), produced byfermentation, on the yield of ester has been examined.Carrying out of reaction of ammonium lactate with butanol in the presence of thecatalysts allows to reduce process duration by 25-30%.The use of adsorbents on the clearing stage (various types of bentonites and theactive carbon) allows to increase the yield of ester from 60 % to 75 %.50