Citric Acid → Trisodium citrate

Participants

Reaction Steps

A citric acid process stream (about 50% by weight citric acid) was neutralized to pH 8 with a 50% sodium hydroxide solution and then concentrated. 50 ml of concentrated solution was poured into an erlenmeyer flask with stirrer bar. The solution was stirred until it became turbid. At this point, 10 g of sodium hydroxide pellets were added as the crystallizing base. The sodium salt of citric acid started to crystallize rapidly. The mixture was stirred for 2 hours and gradually cooled to room temperature. The mixture was poured into a basket centrifuge and the crystals separated from the mother liquor and collected. The recovery was 92% and the impurities such as carbonizables and color were reduced by more than 90%.

Provenance & Evidence