Skip to main content
Go to the home page of the European Commission (opens in new window)
English en
CORDIS - EU research results
CORDIS
Content archived on 2024-04-15

UPGRADING OF ETHANOL FROM FERMENTATION SOLUTIONS BY MEANS OF SUPERCRITICAL EXTRACTION

Objective



UP TO THE PRESENT DISCONTINUOUS FERMENTATION PROCESSES HAVE BEEN USED OPERATING AT AMBIENT PRESSURE. MORE INNOVATIVE METHODS OPERATE ON THE BASIS OF CONTINUOUS PROCESSES UNDER VACUUM.
AT THE KRUPP FORSCHUNGSINSTITUT RESEARCH IS BEING MADE ON THE DEVELOPMENT AND OPTIMIZATION OF A CONTINUOUS BIOMASS FERMENTATION PROCESS AND ON THE CONTINUOUS UPGRADING OF ALCOHOL. THE ALCOHOL IS SEPARATED FROM THE FERMENTATION SOLUTION BY SELECTIVE EXTRACTION USING A SUPERCRITICAL GAS. THIS IS DONE WITHOUT DISTILLATION, WHICH LEADS TO A CONSIDERABLE REDUCTION OF OPERATING COST. MOREOVER, CONTINUOUS FERMENTATION OF BIOMASSES IS POSSIBLE YIELDING A HIGHLY CONCENTRATED ALCOHOL. BY USING PHYSIOLOGICALLY HARMLESS GASES THIS ALCOHOL IS SUITABLE TO BE USED IN THE PHARMACEUTICAL AND FOODSTUFFS INDUSTRIES.
EXPERIMENTS WITH CO2 AS EXTRACTANT HAVE LED TO THE FOLLOWING RESULTS: ALCOHOL CONCENTRATION OF THE RAFFINATE DECREASES WITH RISING EXTRACTION PRESSURE AND TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE OF THE RAFFINATE CONCENTRATION IS LOW AT 200 BAR. AT A PRESSURE OF 200 BAR AND A TEMPERATURE OF 40 CELSIUS DEGREES AN ALCOHOL DEPLETION (FROM 5.9 WT.-% TO 1.4 WT.-%) OF THE FERMENTATION SOLUTION IS ACHIEVED. ALCOHOL CONCENTRATION IN THE EXTRACT MAINLY DEPENDS ON THE EXTRACTION TEMPERATURE WHERE HIGHER TEMPERATURES ALLOW A HIGHER UPGRADING OF THE ALCOHOL. ON THE BASIS OF FIRST EXPERIMENTAL TESTS, IT CAN BE ASSUMED THAT CONCENTRATIONS OF APPROX. 80 WT.-% ETHANOL CAN BE ACHIEVED. ETHANOL IS PRODUCED BY MEANS OF A CONVENTIONAL PROCESS OR BY MEANS OF A NEW PROCESS WHICH IS YET TO BE DEVELOPED USING AN ALTERNATIVE EXTRACTANT SUCH AS PROPANE OR BUTANE.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.

You need to log in or register to use this function

Programme(s)

Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.

Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Data not available

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

Data not available

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

CSC - Cost-sharing contracts

Coordinator

Krupp Entwicklungszentrum GmbH
EU contribution
No data
Address
Münchener Straße 100
45145 Essen
Germany

See on map

Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

No data
My booklet 0 0