Membrane process opportunities and challenges in the bioethanol industry
Lipnizki, Frank LU
(2008)
12th Aachener Membran Kolloquium 2008
- Abstract
- Due to increasing oil price and environmental concerns, current European initiatives are aiming to increase the share of Biofuel used for transportation from approx. 2 % (2005) to 5.75% in 2010. The production capacity of bioethanol in Germany alone has therefore to increase during this period from 0.7 mio. m³ to 1.8 mio. m³ 1. The feed stocks of current bioethanol concepts are sugar and starch crops, while for the next generation cellulosic biomass such as straw, wood etc. is under investigation. The first part of the presentation will review membrane opportunities in the present bioethanol production, while the second part is focusing on potential membrane application in the next generation of bioethanol plant.
The current... (More) - Due to increasing oil price and environmental concerns, current European initiatives are aiming to increase the share of Biofuel used for transportation from approx. 2 % (2005) to 5.75% in 2010. The production capacity of bioethanol in Germany alone has therefore to increase during this period from 0.7 mio. m³ to 1.8 mio. m³ 1. The feed stocks of current bioethanol concepts are sugar and starch crops, while for the next generation cellulosic biomass such as straw, wood etc. is under investigation. The first part of the presentation will review membrane opportunities in the present bioethanol production, while the second part is focusing on potential membrane application in the next generation of bioethanol plant.
The current bioethanol production concepts differ depending on the feed stock, but generally cover: The front-end with saccarification and liquification, followed by fermentation, and the back-end with ethanol concentration and stillage handling. At the front-end of the bioethanol process, microfiltration (MF) and ultrafiltration (UF) can be used for polishing the feed stock before fermentation. At the fermentation step, different approaches to combine membranes directly with the fermentor have been investigated to continuously overcome process inhibitors to provide a continuous fermentation process. Processes such as MF, UF and pervaporation (PV) have been considered for this step. In order to overcome azeotropic point in the ethanol concentration hybrid processes with PV vapour permeation (VP) can be used to replace the entrainer distillation or the use of molecular sieves. In the classic stillage process to produce DDGS (distiller dried grains with soluble) by evaporating and drying the stillage, reverse osmosis (RO) can be used for the polishing of the evaporator condensate. In alternative concepts for stillage handling, UF can be used to pre-concentrate the stillage before an anaerobic digester and in combination with a decanter for the sludge treatment after the digester. Further membrane processes can be used within the water cycles of the bioethanol plants. Nanofiltration (NF) and RO can be applied for pre-treatment of the in-take water and membrane bioreactors (MBRs) can be used in the wastewater treatment.
The development of the next generation of bioethanol plants using cellulosic biomass from e.g. trees and grasses as feed stocks is driven by the increasing costs and limited availability of current feedstock. Similar to the present generation of bioethanol concept, membrane processes can be used in the water loop for the pre-treatment of the in-take water and treatment of the wastewater as well as for the concentration of the ethanol. Further, membranes can be used for the purification of the feedstock before fermentation and in the stillage handling. Both MF and UF have the potential to be used before fermentation to purify the feedstock in order to reduce the risk of contamination and product inhibition. Further, in the stillage handling UF, NF and RO can be applied for the energy efficient stillage concentration before anaerobic digestion or power generation.
This presentation will show that membrane processes have their potential in the current and next generation of bioethanol production processes as high selective and energy-saving separation processes.
(Less)
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- author
- Lipnizki, Frank
LU
- publishing date
- 2008
- type
- Contribution to conference
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Membrane separation, Bioethanol
- conference name
- 12th Aachener Membran Kolloquium 2008
- conference location
- Aachen, Germany
- conference dates
- 2008-10-29 - 2008-10-30
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- no
- id
- 2619fae6-4d1e-4775-81e6-dc548579a081
- date added to LUP
- 2018-10-18 07:56:07
- date last changed
- 2019-03-08 02:29:56
@misc{2619fae6-4d1e-4775-81e6-dc548579a081,
abstract = {{Due to increasing oil price and environmental concerns, current European initiatives are aiming to increase the share of Biofuel used for transportation from approx. 2 % (2005) to 5.75% in 2010. The production capacity of bioethanol in Germany alone has therefore to increase during this period from 0.7 mio. m³ to 1.8 mio. m³ 1. The feed stocks of current bioethanol concepts are sugar and starch crops, while for the next generation cellulosic biomass such as straw, wood etc. is under investigation. The first part of the presentation will review membrane opportunities in the present bioethanol production, while the second part is focusing on potential membrane application in the next generation of bioethanol plant. <br/>The current bioethanol production concepts differ depending on the feed stock, but generally cover: The front-end with saccarification and liquification, followed by fermentation, and the back-end with ethanol concentration and stillage handling. At the front-end of the bioethanol process, microfiltration (MF) and ultrafiltration (UF) can be used for polishing the feed stock before fermentation. At the fermentation step, different approaches to combine membranes directly with the fermentor have been investigated to continuously overcome process inhibitors to provide a continuous fermentation process. Processes such as MF, UF and pervaporation (PV) have been considered for this step. In order to overcome azeotropic point in the ethanol concentration hybrid processes with PV vapour permeation (VP) can be used to replace the entrainer distillation or the use of molecular sieves. In the classic stillage process to produce DDGS (distiller dried grains with soluble) by evaporating and drying the stillage, reverse osmosis (RO) can be used for the polishing of the evaporator condensate. In alternative concepts for stillage handling, UF can be used to pre-concentrate the stillage before an anaerobic digester and in combination with a decanter for the sludge treatment after the digester. Further membrane processes can be used within the water cycles of the bioethanol plants. Nanofiltration (NF) and RO can be applied for pre-treatment of the in-take water and membrane bioreactors (MBRs) can be used in the wastewater treatment. <br/>The development of the next generation of bioethanol plants using cellulosic biomass from e.g. trees and grasses as feed stocks is driven by the increasing costs and limited availability of current feedstock. Similar to the present generation of bioethanol concept, membrane processes can be used in the water loop for the pre-treatment of the in-take water and treatment of the wastewater as well as for the concentration of the ethanol. Further, membranes can be used for the purification of the feedstock before fermentation and in the stillage handling. Both MF and UF have the potential to be used before fermentation to purify the feedstock in order to reduce the risk of contamination and product inhibition. Further, in the stillage handling UF, NF and RO can be applied for the energy efficient stillage concentration before anaerobic digestion or power generation. <br/>This presentation will show that membrane processes have their potential in the current and next generation of bioethanol production processes as high selective and energy-saving separation processes. <br/> <br/>}},
author = {{Lipnizki, Frank}},
keywords = {{Membrane separation; Bioethanol}},
language = {{eng}},
title = {{Membrane process opportunities and challenges in the bioethanol industry}},
year = {{2008}},
}