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A Review of Separation Technologies in Current and Future Biorefineries
A Review of Separation Technologies in Current and Future Biorefineries
com
Review
Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering, Kaufert Lab, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN 55108, USA
b Department of Paper and Bioprocess Engineering, SUNY-CESF, Syracuse, NY 13210, USA
Received 5 December 2007; accepted 14 December 2007
Abstract
Biorefineries process bioresources such as agriculture or forest biomass to produce energy and a wide variety of precursor chemicals and
bio-based materials, similar to the modern petroleum refineries. Industrial platform chemicals such as acetic acid, liquid fuels such as bioethanol
and biodegradable plastics such as polyhydroxyalkanoates can be produced from wood and other lignocellulosic biomass. Biorefineries use a
variety of separation methods often to produce high value co-products from the various feed streams. In this paper, a critical review of separation
methods and technologies related to biorefining including pre-extraction of hemicellulose and other value-added chemicals, detoxification of
fermentation hydrolyzates, and ethanol product separation and dehydration is presented. For future biorefineries, extractive distillation with ionic
liquids and hyperbranched polymers, adsorption with molecular sieve and bio-based adsorbents, nanofiltration, extractive-fermentation, membrane
pervaporation in bioreactors, and vacuum membrane distillation (VMD) hold significant potential and great promise for further investigation,
development and application.
2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Biorefinery; Separation technologies; Ethanol; Biofuels; Bioprocess engineering; Detoxification
Contents
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Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.1. Corn-to-ethanol biorefinery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.2. Lignocellulosic biomass-to-ethanol biorefinery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.3. Integrated lignocellulose/forest biorefinery (ILCB) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Pre-extraction of hemicellulose and other value-added chemicals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.1. Extraction of value-added co-products from corn-to-ethanol process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.1.1. Extraction of corn germ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.1.2. Extraction of corn fiber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.1.3. Extraction of zein . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.2. Pre-extraction of value-added chemicals in integrated forest biorefinery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.2.1. Pre-extraction of hemicellulose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.2.2. Pre-extraction of antioxidants. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Removal of inhibitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Recovery of ethanol and ethanol dehydration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.1. Ordinary distillation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.2. Azeotropic distillation (AD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.3. Extractive distillation (ED) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.3.1. Extractive distillation with liquid solvent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.3.2. Extractive distillation with dissolved salt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 612 624 8797; fax: +1 612 625 6286.
E-mail address: shri@umn.edu (S. Ramaswamy).
1383-5866/$ see front matter 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.seppur.2007.12.011
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4.3.3. Extractive distillation with the mixture of liquid extractant and dissolved salt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.3.4. Extractive distillation with ionic liquid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.3.5. Extractive distillation with hyperbranched polymers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.3.6. Summary of extractive distillation with different separating agents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.4. Liquidliquid extraction-fermentation hybrid (extractive fermentation) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.5. Adsorption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.5.1. Vapor-phase adsorption of water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.5.2. Liquid-phase adsorption of water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.5.3. Advantages and disadvantages of adsorption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.6. Membrane separation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.6.1. Hydrophilic membrane for removal of water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.6.2. Hydrophobic membrane for removal of ethanol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.6.3. Membrane pervaporation-bioreactor hybrid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.6.4. Vacuum Membrane Distillation (VMD) bioreactor hybrid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1. Introduction
Among the variety of possible products from the biorefinery, liquid transportation fuels in the form of ethanol (or what
is now referred to as bioethanol) is rapidly gaining significance.
Bioethanol is likely to be a prominent product for future biorefineries; hence this review will focus on separation technologies
incorporating bioethanol as a principal product.
There has been an increasing interest in biomass derived
ethanol due to the rapid increase in the price of crude oil and the
perceived strength of the global demand of petroleum. There
are many advantages in using bioresource derived ethanol as
a liquid transportation fuel. Bioethanol blended with gasoline
extends crude oil utilization, reduces reliance on oil imports and
help mitigate increasing oil prices. The higher oxygen content
of ethanol results in relatively cleaner combustion and has long
been used as an additive in gasoline to reduce urban smog and
other environmental pollution problems. Agricultural sources
such as corn or sugar cane are annual crops which sequester
carbon from the atmosphere in annual cycles. Forest resources
such as woody biomass capture and release atmospheric carbon
over a few decades. Fossil fuels release ancient carbon and other
greenhouse gases into the atmosphere significantly contributing
to global climate change processes whereas bioresource based
transportation fuels can be carbon neutral [1].
Basically, there are three kinds of biomass-to-ethanol
biorefineries: corn-to-ethanol, basic lignocellulosic biomassto-ethanol biorefinery and integrated lignocellulosic biomassto-ethanol and other co-products including the concept of
integrated forest biorefinery.
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wastewater treatment;
pre-extraction of hemicellulose and separation of hemicellulose from other components in the extract when considering
separate fermentation of pentoses and hexoses.
1.3. Integrated lignocellulose/forest biorenery (ILCB)
Fig. 3. Overall process block diagram for a basic lignocellulose to ethanol biorefinery [7].
essential feature of pretreatment processes for biological conversion to ethanol or other products [28]. To date, a variety
of effective pretreatment methods to hydrolyze and fractionate hemicellulose components have been investigated, including
dilute acid pretreatments [2932], liquid hot water extraction
[3335], steam explosion-based extraction [3642], dilute acidsteam explosion [43] and alkaline extraction [4446]. Ammonia
fiber/freeze explosion (AFEX) is another well-known pretreatment. However, it is hard to remove hemicellulose by AFEX,
even though it has been shown to remove lignin very well [28].
Mosier et al. also pointed out that dilute acid pretreatment,
liquid hot water extraction, steam explosion-based extraction,
dilute acid-steam explosion are effective in removing hemicellulose, though they considered alkaline extraction to have only
minor effect for removal of hemicellulose [28]. On the other
hand, alkaline extraction has been shown to very effective for
hemicellulose removal [4446]. In the following, dilute acid pretreatment, liquid hot water extraction, steam explosion-based
extraction, dilute acidsteam explosion and alkaline extraction
will be discussed.
Dilute sulfuric acid pretreatment, with pH control by ammonia or/and lime is one of the most promising approaches, because
of its lower costs and higher hemicellulose yields (up to 90%)
[30]. Dilute-acid (0.51.0% sulfuric) at moderate temperatures
(140190 C) effectively can recover most of the hemicellulose
as dissolved sugars [29].
Higher temperatures (200230 C) water extraction can completely recover hemicellulose from hardwoods and herbaceous
materials, without significant degradation [33]. Saska and Ozer
[34] showed that hemicellulose from sugar cane bagasse can be
successfully extracted with water as the extractant. Under the
operating conditions of the solid/liquid ratio at 1:5, the extraction temperature at 150170 C, and the extraction time with
1530 min, 89% the original amount of xylose was recovered.
The major advantages of the water extraction method over the
dilute acid pretreatment are: lower corrosion to equipment, less
xylose degradation and thus less byproducts including inhibitory
compounds in the extracts, and more easier recovery of acid from
the hydrolyzate. With particle size reduction prior to extraction, the aqueous process gave almost 90% recovery of xylose,
superior to steam explosion-based extraction [34].
Steam explosion is an effective pretreatment for hemicellulose hydrolysis [3942]. In this process, biomass is pretreated
by pressurized steam followed by rapid relieving of pressure,
which breaks down the lignocellulosic structure so that the
lignin is readily depolymerized and thus the hemicellulose is
easily hydrolyzed [42]. The steam explosion process can result
in around 50% insoluble residue of the wood, consisting mainly
of cellulose. The remainder which chiefly contains hemicellulose and lignin, can be recovered with alkali extraction [41].
Shimizu et al. [39] performed steam-explosion of various species
of hardwood chips at 180308 C for 120 min, leading to partial hydrolysis of hemicellulose, and the resulting sugars can
then be extracted with water. The xylose yield was 1020% of
the starting materials [39]. Ibrahim and Glasser [40] used steam
treatment to break down and separate the red oak wood chips
into fibers and polymer products, resulting in nearly complete
was subjected to a NaOH (1%)ethanol (70%) solution to solubilize lignin. After centrifugation, hemicellulose was extracted
with 4% NaOH. The combined two filtrates were bleached with
peroxide to minimize the residual lignin content. The suspension
was finally ultrafiltered and spray-dried to obtain hemicellulose.
Sun et al. [46] investigated the extraction of hemicelluloses
from fast-growing poplar wood. In their process shown in Fig. 7,
poplar wood chips were firstly dried, and dewaxed by extraction with toluene-ethanol mixture (2:1, v/v), followed by partial
delignification with an acidic NaCl solution, hemicelluloses
exaction with 1.58.5% NaOH leading to 65.689.3% solubilization of the original hemicelluloses, filtration of the slurry
obtained into solid (cellulose) and filtrate (hydrolyzates), neutralization of the hydrolyzates to pH 5.5, and precipitation of
hemicelluloses in 95% EtOH, and filtration, washing and drying
of hemicelluloses.
From Figs. 57, it is found that alkali extraction with NaOH
is used in all these three processes, and this method is effective in extraction of hemicelluloses from hardwood. Since the
hemicelluloses concentration of filtered hydrolyzates is very
low, e.g., 23% depending on the solid/solvent ratio used, it
is very important to concentrate hemicelluloses in order for efficient subsequent fermentation into ethanol or xylitol, or to obtain
3. Removal of inhibitors
It is well-known that thermo-chemical pretreatment of lignocelluloses, e.g. dilute acid hydrolysis and steam explosion,
can release not only the fermentable pentose and hexose sugars,
but also various compounds which are inhibitory to microorganisms and lead to apparent reduction in fermentation yield and
productivity. Since the detoxification process can be expensive
and take a large portion of the whole ethanol production cost,
detoxification is a key step and selection of the proper detoxification method becomes very important. For example, one study
showed that detoxification process comprised 22% of the ethanol
production cost with Willow as feedstock [52].
In general, there are three major groups of inhibitors:
aliphatic acids (acetic, formic and levulinic acid), furan derivatives furfural and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), and phenolic
compounds (phenol, vanillin, p-hydroxybenzoic acid) [53,54].
The mechanisms of inhibition for these three groups of inhibitors
was reviewed by Palmqvist and Hahn-Hagerdal [53]. In addition,
use of different biomass as feedstock, pretreatment methods,
and fermentation organisms results in different inhibitory compounds and different concentration of inhibitors. As an example,
more than 35 potential inhibitors to S. cerevisiae fermentation in
dilute nitric acid hydrolyzates of hybrid poplar were identified
[55].
In order to enhance the efficiency of hydrolyzate fermentation, in addition to optimization of the pretreatment and
hydrolysis process for minimizing formation of the hydrolysis byproducts (inhibitors), it is necessary to remove inhibitors
(detoxify hydrolyzates) prior to fermentation or in situ detoxification. The detoxification can be either chemical, physical, or
biological [56]. The most commonly used methods for detoxification of hydrolyzates before fermentation are: evaporation [57],
solvent extraction [25,26,58], overliming with calcium hydroxide [54,59], activated charcoal [54,6062], ion exchange resins
[54,62], and enzymatic detoxification [63,64].
Evaporation is a simple procedure to remove acetic acid, furfural and other volatile components in the hydrolyzates. For
instance, Converti et al. [57] hydrolyzed the E. globules wood
by steam explosion and dilute acid treatment at 100 C, followed
by boiling or evaporating the obtained hydrolyzate for 160 min
to decrease the concentration of acetic acid and furfural from
31.2 to 1.0 g/l and from 1.2 to 0.5 g/l, respectively. These are
below their inhibitory levels for the fermentation of xylose to
xylitol by Pachysolen tannophilus strain, showing that in this
case the simple evaporation method is sufficient to eliminate the
inhibition of acetic acid and furfural.
Solvent extraction with ethyl acetate is effective to remove all
of the inhibitory compounds except for the residual acetic acid
[58], e.g. ethyl acetate extraction can be used to remove 56%
acetic acid and all of furfural, vanillin, and 4-hydroxybenzoic
acid [56].
Fig. 9. Block diagram of the hydrolyzate detoxification with IER [62]: (1) cation
exchanger in H+ form; (2) anion exchanger in Cl form; (3) cation exchanger
in H+ form; (4) anion exchanger in OH form.
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Fig. 10. Flow sheet of two-column process for ethanol dehydration [72,73].
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Fig. 11. Extractive distillation (C1: extractive distillation column, C2: solvent
recovery column).
Fig. 13. Typical simplified PFD of the extractive distillation with dissolved salt
[80].
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glycol or gasoline), solvent extraction, and membrane pervaporation. It was found that the extractive distillation with CaCl2
consumes almost the same energy as membrane pervaporation,
and these two methods are superior to the other mentioned
in energy-saving. In addition, a mixture of two or more salts
can also be employed in extractive distillation. For instance, a
70/30 mixture of potassium and sodium acetate was utilized
in the HIAG (Holz Industrie Acetien Geselleschaft) extractive
distillation process, which could produce more than 99.8 wt%
ethanol, with lower capital and operating costs (energy consumption) compared to conventional azeotropic distillation with
benzene or extractive distillation with ethylene glycol [79,83].
Recently, Pinto et al. [85] simulated both conventional (using
ethylene glycol) and saline extractive distillation with different
salts such as NaCl, KCl, KI and CaCl2 for ethanol dehydration
by use of Aspen Plus, and made comparison between them. It
was shown that CaCl2 provides the largest salting out effect on
ethanol among the four salts mentioned, and that saline extractive distillation with CaCl2 has the lower energy consumption as
compared with conventional extractive distillation with ethylene
glycol. It was demonstrated that the saline extractive distillation
is a better process to obtain anhydrous ethanol from the fermentation broth, due to the use of only one column, which requires
the lowest energy consumption, and uses non-toxic solvent.
Recently, Ligero et al. [86] proposed and compared two
different process flowsheets of extractive distillation with potassium acetate as separating agent by simulation. In the first flow
sheet, dilute ethanol solution is fed to the extractive distillation
column, followed by salt recovery in a multiple effect evaporator and a spray dryer, and then recycled to the column. In the
second, dilute ethanol solution is concentrated firstly by conventional distillation, and the resulting concentrated ethanol is
then fed to the extractive distillation column followed by a single spray dryer for recovery of salt, which is also recycled in the
column. It is shown that the second flowsheet has less energy
consumption than the first.
In order to reduce energy consumption, heat integration is
often considered and included in the ethanol separation process. For example, Lynd and Grethlein [82] optimized a process
flowsheet by heat integration for anhydrous ethanol production
from beer liquors. The process consists of a pre-concentration
column with intermediate heat pumps and optimal side-stream
return, a saline extractive distillation column with potassium
acetate as an agent, a salt-concentrating evaporator, and a spray
dryer. It was shown that the process proposed requires lower
capital costs and much less energy consumption in comparison
with conventional separation procedures for making anhydrous
ethanol.
4.3.3. Extractive distillation with the mixture of liquid
extractant and dissolved salt
Similar to the liquid extractant or dissolved salt, the combination of both liquid extractant and dissolved salt can be used
as separating agent in extractive distillation for ethanol purification, with the same process flowsheet. In general, only a little
amount of salt was required in the mixture of liquid extractant
and dissolved salt.
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Fig. 14. Extractive distillation using ionic liquid as non-volatile entrainer (A:
main column, B: flash drum, C: stripping column) [93].
Table 1
Summary of dehydration technologies of extractive distillation with different agents
Technologies
Advantages
Disadvantages
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non-toxic to microorganism,
high distribution coefficient,
high selectivity with respect to the product,
low solubility in the aqueous phase,
density different from that of the broth to ensure phase separation by gravity,
low viscosity, large interfacial tension and low tendency to
emulsify in the broth,
high stability,
not expensive.
Some potential biocompatible solvents for extraction of ethanol
from beer liquor reported by several investigators include oleyl
alcohol [96,97], n-dodecanol [98,99], isoamyl acetate and isooctyl alcohol [100], nonanoic acid [101], etc. In the continuous
fermentation of ethanol with the thermophilic, anaerobic bacterium Clostridium thermohydrosulfuricum, as shown in Fig. 15,
oleyl alcohol was used as extractant for simultaneously in situ
extraction of ethanol in order to eliminate the ethanol product
inhibition. Results showed that the ethanol yield of in situ extraction is two times that of fermentations without in situ extraction
[96]. Oleyl alcohol was also utilized in a simultaneous saccharification and extractive fermentation (SSEF) process where
cellulose hydrolyzate was fermented to ethanol, and the ethanol
product was removed by extraction with oleyl alcohol. With
SSEF, ethanol productivity increased by 65% and the amount of
water required was greatly reduced, compared to non-extractive
fed batch simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF)
[97]. The combination of increasing ethanol yield and decreas-
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4.6.1.2. Polymeric membrane. So far, a large number of polymeric pervaporation membranes, for example cellulose acetate
butyrate membrane [126], PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane) membrane [127], PDMS-PS IPN supported membranes [128],
aromatic polyetherimide membranes [129] have been investigated. OBrien and Craig [127] utilized the commercially
available PDMS membrane module in a continuous fermentation/membrane pervaporation system to produce ethanol,
resulting in permeate of 2023 wt% while 46 wt% level was
retained in stirred tank fermentor. The selectivity ranged from
1.8 to 4.1. Ruckenstein et al. utilized polydimethylsiloxanepolystyrene interpenetrating polymer network (PDMS-PS IPN)
supported membranes for pervaporation separation of ethanol
from aqueous solutions. As PS is more hydrophobic and has
higher tensile strength than PDMS, the mechanical and filmforming properties of PDMS-PS are better than those of PDMS.
The selectivity of these PDMS-PS membranes varied with the
feed composition. For the feed having low ethanol concentration,
the membrane was more selective for ethanol, while for the feed
with high ethanol concentration it was more selective for water
[128]. Schue et al. [129] investigated the sorption, diffusion and
pervaporation of ethanol solution in homogeneous and composite aromatic polyetherimide membranes. The performance of
these membranes was found dependent on the permeate diffusivity rather than its solubility.
4.6.1.3. Composite or mixed membrane. To combine the
advantages of inorganic membrane and polymeric membrane for
obtaining high ratio of membrane performance/cost, recently,
various inorganic-polymer or polymerpolymer composite
membranes, such as polystyrenesulfonate/alumina [130], polyelectrolytes multi-layer [131], KA zeolite-incorporated crosslinked PVA multilayer mixed matrix membranes (MMMMs)
[132], and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)-sodium alginate (SA)
blend membranes [118], have been studied for pervaporation
separation of ethanol/water mixtures. It is demonstrated by Martin that the separation factor of polystyrenesulfonate/alumina
composite membranes was up to 400 [130]. Tieke et al. prepared
multi-layer membranes by alternate adsorption of cationic and
anionic polyelectrolytes onto porous support membranes, and
achieved highest separation capability when polyelectrolytes
with high charge density such as polyetherimide (PEI) and
polyvinylsulfate (PVS) are used [131].
Table 2
PV performance of zeolite membranes for separating ethanolwater mixtures
Membrane
xw (wt% water)
T (K)
Flux (kg m2 h1 )
w/e
Ref.
Zeolite T
Zeolite T
NaA
NaA
NaX
NaY
10
10
5
10
10
10
348
348
368
348
348
348
1.25
1.10
2.35
2.15
1.91
1.59
2,200
900
5,000
10,000
170
130
[122]
[123]
[106]
[124]
[125]
[125]
17
18
of ethanol and the other inhibitory compounds from fermentation broths. Till now, there has been much reported on this
topic [150152]. As an example, Gryta et al. produced ethanol
in a membrane distillation bioreactor where porous capillary
polypropylene membranes were applied for separating volatile
compounds, including ethanol and other inhibitors, from the
feed (broth), leading to increase in the productivity and the
sugar-to-ethanol conversion rate [151]. VMD is commercially
competitive because of its high selectivity of ethanol over water,
large flux, high thermal efficiency and low energy cost [92].
5. Conclusions
This paper attempts to provide a critical review of the various
separation technologies used in todays cornethanol biorefinery
as well as the challenges and opportunities in future cellulosic
ethanol and integrated lignocellulosic biorefinery producing liquid fuels and other co-products. As shown in this review, there
are two key separation steps in the biorefinery that offers challenges and opportunities. First is the separation of fermentation
inhibitors after the pre-extraction of hemicelluloses from lignocellulosic biomass. Here the promising separation technologies
are the three in situ detoxification hybrid processes including
extractive-fermentation, membrane pervaporation-bioreactor,
and VMDbioreactor, which can eliminate the inhibition of
products and inhibitory compounds, increase the fermentation
yield and productivity, and reduce (fresh) water consumption
due to recycle. Currently, ion exchange resin (IER) method is
the preferred choice for detoxification and will be still used in the
future biorefinery because of its high detoxification efficiency,
easy (continuous) operation and flexible combination of different anion and cation exchangers, while the enzymatic treatment
will grow in the future.
The second key separation challenge in biorefinery is the
azeotropic nature of ethanolwater mixture posing challenges
to remove the last amounts of water producing fuel grade
ethanol. For ethanolwater azeotropic separation, promising
technologies are the extractive distillation with ionic liquid and
hyperbranched polymers, adsorption with molecular sieve and
bio-based adsorbents, representing low energy consumption.
In addition to the above key steps, other separation steps in
biorefining are pre-extraction of hemicellulose (for ILCB) and
other value-added chemicals (corn germ, fiber, zein or gluten
from cornethanol plants). Key separation technologies for these
steps include Quick Germ process for corn germ recovery,
Quick Fiber process for corn fiber recovery, extraction of
zein from corn with ethanol followed by ultrafiltration, and
the effective pretreatments for hemicellulose extraction such
as dilute acid pretreatments, liquid hot water extraction, steam
explosion-based extraction, dilute acid-steam explosion and
alkaline extraction. Membrane separation, especially nanofiltration represents a promising separation procedure for recovery of
hemicelluloses from hydrolyzates because of its low energy consumption and excellent separation efficiency. In addition, the
combination of a twin-screw extruder and nanofiltration may
become the preferred choice for extracting hemicelluloses from
hardwood chips in the future.
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