Additional File 1
Authors – Susmit S. Bapat, Dr. Clint P. Aichele, Dr. Karen A. High
Manuscript Title - Development of a Sustainable Process for the
Production of Polymer Grade Lactic Acid
Number of pages – 4
Number of Tables - 6
Development of a Sustainable Process for the Production of Polymer Grade Lactic Acid
Table S1: Sensitivity analyses results over Separator 3 for Lactic acid (LA) mass fraction by varying
Distillate to feed ratio, Reflux Ratio, Feed Location and No. of Stages
Sensitivity Analyses - Separator 3 (Aspen Model: Distl)
Distillate to Feed(D:F)
D:F
0.5
0.55
0.6
0.65
0.7
LA Mass Frac
0.83042
0.85155
0.87376
0.99996
0.99997
Reflux Ratio (RR)
RR
1
1.1
1.2
1.3
Feed Location (F-LOC)
LA Mass Frac
0.99996
0.99997
0.99997
0.99997
F-LOC
4
5
LA Mass Frac
0.99998
0.99996
No. of Stages (NSTAGE)
N-STAGE
9
10
11
LA Mass Frac
0.99996
0.99999
1.00000
Table S2: Sensitivity analyses results over Hydrolysis Reactor for Lactic acid (LA) mass fraction by
varying Reactor Temperature, Pure Lactic Acid Inlet Flow Rate and Distilled Water Flow rate
Sensitivity Analyses - Hydrolysis Reactor (Aspen Model: RStoich)
Reactor Temperature
Temperature
(K)
LA Mass Frac
313
323
333
343
353
363
373
373.15
383
393
403
413
0.623120392
0.623121749
0.62312211
0.623121704
0.623121176
0.623121734
0.623122075
0.623121998
0.623122425
0.623122202
0.623122008
0.623122056
Pure Lactic Acid Inlet Flow Rate
Pure Lactic Acid
Mass Flow Rate
(KG/HR)
0
0.01
0.015
0.02
0.03
0.04
0.05
LA Mass Frac
0.62208008
0.622775545
0.623122035
0.623468003
0.624155377
0.624838559
0.625517586
1
Water Flow Rate
Water Mass
Flow Rate
(KG/HR)
1.8
1.85
1.9
1.95
2
2.05
2.1
2.15
2.2
LA Mass Frac
0.650124349
0.643813146
0.637221173
0.630328981
0.623121728
0.615573215
0.607667016
0.599386385
0.590881851
Development of a Sustainable Process for the Production of Polymer Grade Lactic Acid
Table S3: Sensitivity analyses results over Bubble Column Reactor for Methyl Lactate (Me-La) mass
fraction by varying No. of Stages, Distillate to feed ratio, Reflux Ratio and Methanol Feed Location
Sensitivity Analyses - Bubble Column Reactor (Aspen Model: RadFrac)
No. of Stages (NSTAGE)
NSTAGE
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
Me-La Mass
Fraction
0.6302035
0.6305344
0.6282199
0.6275278
0.6273122
0.6272492
0.6272341
0.6272271
0.6272245
0.6272229
0.6272224
0.6400223
0.6445154
Distillate to Feed(D:F)
D:F
0.4
0.45
0.5
0.55
0.6
0.65
0.7
0.75
0.8
0.81
Reflux Ratio (RR)
Me-La Mass
Fraction
0.4728521
0.5006606
0.5310520
0.5594982
0.5841040
0.6118929
0.6445148
0.6837251
0.7310741
0.7403386
RR
1
1.2
1.4
1.6
1.8
2
2.2
2.4
2.6
2.8
3
3.2
3.4
3.6
3.8
4
2
Me-La Mass
Fraction
0.6412163
0.6438805
0.6445551
0.6447084
0.6446682
0.6445105
0.6443002
0.6440343
0.6437424
0.6434277
0.6430896
0.6427302
0.6423586
0.6419719
0.6415639
0.6411479
Methanol Feed Location
(F-LOC)
F-LOC
13
14
15
16
17
Me-La Mass
Fraction
0.5951648
0.6362666
0.6445160
0.6221627
0.6074414
Development of a Sustainable Process for the Production of Polymer Grade Lactic Acid
Table S4: Sensitivity analyses results over Bubble Column Reactor for Methyl Lactate (Me-La) mass
fraction by varying Heater 1 (Lactic Acid Feed) Temperature, Heater 2 (Methanol Feed) Temperature
Sensitivity Analyses - Bubble Column Reactor (Aspen Model: RadFrac)
Heater 1 (Lactic Acid Feed) Temperature
Heater 2 (Methanol Feed) Temperature
Heat 1 Temp (K)
Me-La Mass Fraction
Heat 2 Temp (K)
Me-La Mass Fraction
323
333
343
353
363
373
376.15
383
393
403
413
0.6444547
0.6444665
0.6444773
0.6444890
0.6444987
0.6445102
0.6445141
0.6445829
0.6446868
0.6447078
0.6447132
343
353
363
373
383
392.15
393
403
413
423
433
0.6444983
0.6445105
0.6445093
0.6445103
0.6445117
0.6445146
0.6445130
0.6445142
0.6445152
0.6445162
0.6445171
Table S5: Sensitivity analyses results over Splitter for Methyl Lactate (Me-La) mass fraction by varying
methanol split fraction
Sensitivity Analyses - Splitter (Aspen Model: FSplit)
Methanol Split fraction
0.15
0.2
0.25
0.3
0.35
0.4
0.45
0.5
0.55
0.6
0.65
0.7
0.75
0.8
0.85
0.9
0.95
1
Me-La Mass Fraction
0.7414326
0.7380813
0.7340047
0.7294677
0.7246340
0.7195749
0.7143304
0.7089075
0.7033045
0.6975320
0.6915837
0.6854536
0.6791417
0.6726302
0.6659218
0.6590059
0.6518723
0.6445289
3
Development of a Sustainable Process for the Production of Polymer Grade Lactic Acid
Table S6: Sensitivity analyses results over Separator 1 for Methyl Lactate (Me-La) mass fraction by
varying Distillate to feed ratio, Reflux Ratio, Feed Location and No. of Stages
Sensitivity Analyses - Separator 1 (Aspen Model: Distl)
Distillate to Feed(D:F)
D:F
Me-La
Mass Frac
0.1
0.15
0.2
0.25
0.3
0.35
0.4
0.45
0.5
0.55
0.6
0.6749167
0.6902378
0.7063280
0.7232820
0.7411614
0.7600293
0.7799579
0.8010205
0.8232983
0.8468806
0.8718575
Reflux Ratio (RR)
RR
Me-La
Mass Frac
1
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
1.6
1.7
1.8
1.9
2
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
2.5
2.6
2.7
2.8
2.9
3
0.8703432
0.8708207
0.8711905
0.8714737
0.8716885
0.8718580
0.8720016
0.8721181
0.8722216
0.8723029
0.8723737
0.8724322
0.8724850
0.8725238
0.8725688
0.8726009
0.8726375
0.8726633
0.8726778
0.8727005
0.8727211
Feed Location (F-LOC)
4
F-LOC
Me-La
Mass Frac
3
4
5
6
7
8
0.8608662
0.8691948
0.8718601
0.8727564
0.8730763
0.8731814
No. of Stages (NSTAGE)
N-STAGE
Me-La
Mass Frac
10
11
12
0.8718628
0.8719710
0.8720475