Low Cost Fuel Grade Ethanol

There continues to be need for production of fuel grade ethanol (FGE) from biomass. This has many advantages including: development of fuel independence; zero net greenhouse gas emissions; strengthen U.S. agricultural base; and excellent replacement for MTBE as oxygenate. CMS has identified novel membrane systems and novel processes for reducing the cost for drying fuel grade ethanol (FGE). Limited data has demonstrated the enhanced performance of CMS membranes compared to other membranes for drying bio-ethanol and also superior performance compared to other existing commercial systems.. In addition to enhanced membranes, CMS has also identified an enhanced operating process. The novel CMS enhancements can cost effectively be introduced both to new and existing plants to increase capacity and lower cost of making fuel grade ethanol. Program objective is to reduce cost of manufacturing FGE by 0.3 cents per gallon. Given that process is directly applicable to all existing and new bio-ethanol plants the savings can be in excess of $100,000,000/yr.