Recovery of N, N-dimethylglycine (DMG) from dimethylglycine hydrochloride by bipolar membrane electrodialysis

A Bipolar membrane electrodialysis (BMED) was performed to achieve efficient production of N, N-dimethylglycine (DMG) from dimethylglycine hydrochloride. And the two-compartment cell configuration (BP-A) was used to avoid the amino acid macromolecules migrating through the membrane resulting in membrane fouling. Several experiment parameters including current density, initial dimethylglycine hydrochloride concentration and flow rate were discussed and compared. The results indicated that the optimal operation condition was at the current density of 50 A/m 2 , feed mole concentration of 0.3M and flow rate of 15L/h. Under the optimal condition, the energy consumption was 0.45 kWh/kg, the current efficiency was 65% and the recovery ratio for DMG reached 98% by calculation. In addition, the membrane fouling after experiments was conducted and further analyzed. It was observed that there was no appreciable change on the membrane during the BMED process by the SEM images and FTIR spectra. These results show that the harm of BMED process to membranes could be ignored. BMED method has the advantages of high purity, no by-products, low energy consumption and environmental friendliness. And this study can broaden the application of electrodialysis in the purification and preparation of macromolecular amino acids.