Economic evaluation of a membrane-integrated bioreactor system for lactic acid production
from sugarcane juice was performed. The production process consisted of sterilization,
fermentation, microfiltration, nanofiltration and final concentration by vacuum evaporation.
Membrane recycle fermentor operating at a cell concentration of 22g/L resulted in a
productivity of 53g/Lh with a lactic acid concentration of 106g/L and a yield of 0.96. The
membrane units (cross-flow microfiltration and nanofiltration) and pump contribute about 2 …