How to Extract Penicillin?
To obtain penicillin in the form of a high-purity barium salt, a multi-step process is employed. This includes repeated fractionation from amyl acetate to water, chromatographic separation on an alumina column, and treatment of the active fraction with aluminum amalgam until the alumina column achieves a uniform state. The filtered penicillin fermentation broth is then extracted and purified by disc centrifuge.
During the purification process, a dilute sulfuric acid solution is introduced to the penicillin fermentation filtrate, and the pH to approximately 2.0. Following this, butyl acetate and a demulsifier are added for extraction, maintaining an operating temperature of 10°C to 15°C.
After centrifuging and washing the extracted organic phase, the three-stage continuous counter-current reverse extraction with alkaline water is performed using a centrifuge at low temperatures, adjusting the pH to 6.6 to 7.2, to purify the target compound into the aqueous phase.
This extraction methodology has many advantages such as rapid mass transfer, a short production cycle, ease of continuous operation, automatic control, high separation efficiency, and large-scale production capabilities. especially in automation control to improve production efficiency.
Finally, the back-extracted solution is crystallized using a butanol azeotrope and dried to obtain a refined product. Although this preparation is not crystalline, it is extremely active, containing 450 to 500 Oxford penicillin units per milligram.
It can completely inhibit the growth of Staphylococcus aureus in broth at a dilution of 1:25,000,000, earning it recognition as one of the most potent antibacterial agents.
When to Use Centrifuges in Penicillin Extraction?
Centrifuges are typically used in the penicillin extraction process at the following key stages: