Optimization of the procedure for the synthesis of calcium and sodium citrate in laboratory and semi-industrial conditions

The aim of this investigation is the development of the optimal laboratory procedure for the synthesis of calcium and sodium citrate and the application of obtained results in a project for a semi-industrial installation for its production. These salts are used as an additive in numerous food and pharmaceutical products. Basically, they have to satisfy quality requirements, which is the reason why the procedure for their synthesis needs to be optimized in aspects of selection of reactants, their molar ratio, necessary laboratory equipment, reactant addition order, working temperature, isolation of final product from the reaction mixture, yield and product quality. A semi-industrial installation for the production of calcium and sodium citrate will be projected on the basis of the results of this investigation. The importance of this investigation is the fact that these salts are not produced in our country and the entire quantity (about 20 t per year) is imported. Kalcijum- i natrijum-citrat se koriste u prehrambenoj i farmaceutskoj industriji kao regulatori kiselosti, emulgatori, stabilizatori itd. Ove soli se ne proizvode u nasoj zemlji i sva potrebna kolicina (oko 20 tona godisnje) se uvozi. Cilj ovog rada je da se izvrsi optimizacija postupka sinteze kalcijum- i natrijum-citrata na laboratorijskom nivou i da se dobijeni rezultati primene za projektovanje poluindustrijskog postrojenja za njihovu proizvodnju. Optimizacija postupka za sintezu ovih soli obuhvata: izbor reaktanata i njihovog molskog odnosa, laboratorijsku opremu, redosled dodavanja reaktanata, izbor radne temperature, izdvajanje gotovog proizvoda iz reakcione smese, prinos i kvalitet proizvoda. Kvalitet proizvoda mora da zadovolji standarde neophodne za prehrambenu i farmaceutsku industriju. Na osnovu rezultata istrazivanja ostvarenih u laboratorijskim uslovima predlozena je sinteza u poluindustrijskom postrojenju za proizvodnju citrata.