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Efficient ethanol recovery from fermentation broths with integrated distillation-membrane process
Citation:
VANE, L. M. AND F. R. ALVAREZ. Efficient ethanol recovery from fermentation broths with integrated distillation-membrane process. Presented at the 33rd Symposium on Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals, Seattle, WA, May 02 - 05, 2011.
Impact/Purpose:
To inform EPA
Description:
The energy demand of distillation-molecular sieve systems for ethanol recovery/dehydration can be significant, particularly for dilute solutions. An alternative process integrating vapor stripping (like a beer still) with vapor compression and a vapor permeation membrane separation step has been proposed [1-2]. The water-selective membrane in the vapor permeation step produces water-rich and ethanol-enriched vapor streams from which latent/sensible heat can be recovered into the stripping step. In this work, the performance of such an integrated system with surrogate and actual fermentation broths was demonstrated and the fate of secondary fermentation products in the system was assessed. The experimental apparatus was equipped with a membrane module provided by Membrane Technology and Research, Inc., through a cooperative R&D agreement.