You are here:
PERVAPORATION MEMBRANE SYSTEMS FOR VOLATILE FERMENTATION PRODUCT RECOVERY AND DEHYDRATION
Citation:
VANE, L. M. PERVAPORATION MEMBRANE SYSTEMS FOR VOLATILE FERMENTATION PRODUCT RECOVERY AND DEHYDRATION. Presented at 28th Symposium on Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals, Nashville, TN, April 30 - May 03, 2006.
Impact/Purpose:
To inform the public
Description:
The economics of fermentative production of fuels and commodity chemicals can be a strong function of the efficiency with which the fermentation products are removed from the biological media. Due to growth inhibition by some fermentation products, including ethanol, concentrations of these products in fermentors are generally on the order of 1 to 10 percent by weight (10 to 100 grams per liter). These low concentrations greatly increase product recovery costs using traditional separation processes, such as distillation. Furthermore, the removal of trace water from the fermentation products to meet commercial specifications may require relatively large amounts of energy. Membrane-based pervaporation technology has been proposed as an energy saving alternative to traditional technologies, especially for smaller systems. In pervaporation, compounds permeate through a nonporous or molecularly porous membrane, and evaporate into a vapor permeate stream. The properties of the membrane dictate the separation. For example, pervaporation can be used for the dehydration of an organic stream, through the selection and use of a hydrophilic membrane. Alternatively, if a hydrophobic membrane is used, organic compounds will preferentially pass through the membrane. Options for integrating pervaporation systems with fermentation processes and the state-of-the-art of pervaporation for this application will be discussed.