Ethanol production in a continuous fermentation/membrane pervaporation system

The productivity of ethanol fermentation processes, predominantly based on batch operation in the U.S. fuel ethanol industry, could be improved by adoption of continuous processing technology. In this study, a conventional yeast fermentation was coupled to a flat-plate membrane pervaporation unit to...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied microbiology and biotechnology 1996, Vol.44 (6), p.699-704
Main Authors: O'Brien, D.J, Craig, J.C. Jr
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
bioenergy
Biofuel production
Biological and medical sciences
Biological Sciences
Biotechnology
Energy
energy resources
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Industrial applications and implications. Economical aspects
natural resources
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Summary:The productivity of ethanol fermentation processes, predominantly based on batch operation in the U.S. fuel ethanol industry, could be improved by adoption of continuous processing technology. In this study, a conventional yeast fermentation was coupled to a flat-plate membrane pervaporation unit to recover continuously an enriched ethanol stream from the fermentation broth. The process employed a concentrated dextrose feed stream controlled by the flow rate of permeate from the pervaporation unit via liquid-level control in the fermentor. The pervaporation module contained 0.1 m2 commercially available polydimethylsiloxane membrane and consistently produced a permeate of 20%-23% (w/w) ethanol while maintaining a level of 4%-6% ethanol in a stirred-tank fermentor. The system exhibited excellent operational stability. During continuous operation with cell densities of 15-23 g/l, ethanol productivities of 4.9-7.8 g l-1 h-1 were achieved utilizing feed streams of 269-619 g/l glucose. Pervaporation flux and ethanol selectivities were 0.31-0.79 l m-2 h-1 and 1.8-6.5 respectively.
ISSN:0175-7598
1432-0614
DOI:10.1007/BF00178605