The adsorption capacity of 7 ion-exchange resins with different properties for propionic acid in the fermentation broth was investigated. The effects of fermentation broth acidification method and pH value on the resin adsorption capacity were studied. The elution processes with different concentrations of H2SO4 were analyzed. The feasibility of in series multi-column chromatography to increase the yield of propionic acid was discussed. The results showed that ZGD630, a macroporous weak-base anion exchange resin had the highest adsorption capacity for propionic acid. D001 H-type cation exchange resin acidization method was determined. When pH value decreased to 3 from 6.5, the static state adsorption capacity of ZGD630 increased from 54.34 mg/g to 110 mg/g dry beads, with a dynamic adsorption capacity of 152.5 mg/g. The highest propionic acid concentration during the elution process (4 mol/L H2SO4) reached 81.8 g/L, which was 2.12 times the original fermentation broth concentration. A recovery yield of 62.15% was obtained for propionic acid with in series three-column combined chromatography, a significant improvement compared to the one-column chromatography.