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Separation technologies for the recovery and dehydration of alcohols from fermentation broths
Citation:
VANE, L. M. Separation technologies for the recovery and dehydration of alcohols from fermentation broths. Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining. Society of Chemical Industry, London, Uk, 2(6):553-588, (2008).
Impact/Purpose:
To share information
Description:
Multi-column distillation followed by molecular sieve adsorption is currently the standard method for producing fuel grade ethanol from dilute fermentation broths in modern corn-to-ethnol facilities. As the liquid biofuels industry transitions to lignocellulosic feedstocks, expands the end product portfolio to include other alcohols, and encounters more dilute alcohol concerntrations, alternative separation technologies which are more energy efficient than the conventional approach will be in demand. In this paper, alcohol recovery technology options and alcohol dehydration technology options for the production of ethanol and 1-butanol are are reviewed and compared, with an emphasis on the energy footprint of each approach. Select hybrid technologies are also described.
