Energy efficient recovery and dehydration of ethanol from fermen...

Distillation combined with molecular sieve dehydration is the current state of the art for fuel grade ethanol production from fermentation broths.

To improve the sustainability of bioethanol production, energy efficient separation alternatives are needed, particularly for lower fermented ethanol concentrations and smaller scale systems.

A process, termed Membrane Assisted Vapor Stripping (MAVS), integrating steam stripping with a vapor compression step and a vapor permeation membrane separation step is proposed.

The stripping column provides high ethanol recoveries and low effluent concentrations;...