Novel Ethanol Dehydration Membranes

There continues to be a need for production of fuel-grade ethanol from renewable sources. Ethanol from agricultural sources has many advantages including development of fuel independence. While there continues to be a significant need for ethanol, the cost of agricultural based ethanol is quite severe although existing and new legislation provides significant incentives for its use. This program addresses novel routes to enhance the low-cost production by means of a novel water-ethanol separation membrane and process. The proposed membrane process for small plants should be of great value in increasing capacity and/or reducing energy consumption for ethanol plants. Membrane processes are ideal for small applications. Existing biomass-to-ethanol plants are at 40 million gallons per year or greater and very few are at 10 million gallons per year. A membrane process would be the most advantageous route for operation of small scale plants. Membrane processes are ideal at removing the minor component. A membrane that preferentially removes water would be ideal for final drying of highly concentrated streams such as 60-90% ethanol. The membrane and system ability to economically dry bioethanol in both existing and new bioethanol plants was demonstrated. Savings for existing plants was projected at $0.22/gal and $0.08/gal for a greenfield plant. This program demonstrates broad value for the membrane platform to be responsive to DOE