Patent attributes
The present invention is intended to provide a process capable of efficiently producing highly purified succinic acid from an alkali metal succinate by a simple separation and purification process. The process for producing succinic acid in the present invention comprises (1) the step to add sulfuric acid into a solution containing an alkali metal succinate, (2) the step to precipitate and remove the crystal of an alkali metal sulfate from said solution, and (3) the step to precipitate and recover the crystal of succinic acid. The removal of the crystal of an alkali metal sulfate in the step (2) is performed by a solid-liquid separation in a state that the crystal of alkali metal sulfate is precipitated by concentrating and heating the solution that is obtained by adding sulfuric acid in the step (1) and succinic acid is dissolved in the solution.
