Liquid extraction with immobilized liquids for product recovery from fermentation broths

Nowadays, many fermentation chemicals are produced at an industrial scale. Numerous technological improvements have been developed and implemented to achieve high quality and quantity of fermentation products. However, several drawbacks in fermentation processes still limit their application at an industrial level. In situ product removal (ISPR) is a potential alternative to overcome the conventional drawbacks of the fermentative processes, increasing the fermentation's productivity and reducing the separation steps for recovery and purification. Currently, liquid extraction has emerged as a promising separation technology for ISPR, with immobilized liquids such as membrane-assisted extraction and microchannel liquid membrane, due to the high mass transfer rates, scalability, easy integration, and efficiency. This chapter will discuss these technologies regarding their integration into fermentative processes.