UPGRADING OF ETHANOL FROM FERMENTATION SOLUTIONS BY MEANS OF SUPERCRITICAL EXTRACTION

Project Information

Grant agreement ID: EN3B0077

Project closed

Start date 1 September 1986

End date 31 August 1989

Funded under

• Research and development programme (EEC) in the field of Non-Nuclear Energy, 1985-1988

Total cost € 0,00

EU contribution No data

Coordinated by

Krupp Entwicklungszentrum GmbH
Germany

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

• engineering and technology › other engineering and technologies › food technology
• engineering and technology › chemical engineering › separation technologies › distillation
• natural sciences › chemical sciences › organic chemistry › alcohols
• agricultural sciences › agricultural biotechnology › biomass
• engineering and technology › industrial biotechnology › bioprocessing technologies › fermentation

Programme(s)

• FP1-ENNONUC 3C - Research and development programme (EEC) in the field of Non-Nuclear Energy, 1985-1988

Topic(s)

Data not available

Call for proposal

Data not available

Funding Scheme

CSC - Cost-sharing contracts

Coordinator

Krupp Entwicklungszentrum GmbH

• EU contribution: No data
• Address: Münchener Straße 100 ; 45145 Essen ; Germany
• Total cost: No data