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Integrated distillation-membrane process for bio-ethanol and bio-butanol recovery from actual fermentation broths: Separation energy efficiency and fate of secondary fermentation products
Citation:
VANE, L. M. Integrated distillation-membrane process for bio-ethanol and bio-butanol recovery from actual fermentation broths: Separation energy efficiency and fate of secondary fermentation products. Presented at the Department seminar at National University of Singapore, 21 Lower Kent Ridge Road , SINGAPORE, February 20, 2012.
Impact/Purpose:
To inform the EPA
Description:
A hybrid process integrating vapor stripping with vapor compression and vapor permeation membrane separation, termed Membrane Assisted Vapor Stripping (MAVS), was evaluated for recovery and dehydration of ethanol and/or 1-butanol from aqueous solution as an alternative to conventional energy-intensive distillation-based processes. The alcohol removal and drying performance of the MAVS system with binary ethanol-water and butanol-water mixtures and ABE-water (acetone-butanol-ethanol-water) mixtures was benchmarked and compared to performance with a yeast ethanol fermentation broth and a bacterial ABE fermentation broth. The fate of secondary fermentation products in the system was assessed. Simple alcohols, esters, and organic acids, displayed varying degrees of recovery in the vapor stripping based on the relative vapor-liquid partitioning of the compounds. All volatilized organic compounds were concentrated to the same degree in the membrane step. Membrane permeance, permselectivity, and overall energy usage of the hybrid process were the same with the fermentation broth as with the binary alcohol-water solutions, indicating no adverse effect of secondary fermentation products on membrane performance. The MAVS system required less than half the energy of a distillation-molecular sieve system for ethanol recovery and drying.