High-performance silicalite-1 membranes on porous tubular silica supports for separation of ethanol/water mixtures

A Novel Mass Transfer Model to Describe the Separation Process in Reverse Osmosis of Glucose

Basic and theoretical research on processes such as reverse osmosis (RO) is essential in the fermentation industry to improve production efficiency and reduce cost. Here, we focus on the RO concentration of glucose solutions. We constructed a mathematic model that incorporates various membrane and experimental parameters to characterize the mass transfer process of RO membrane and validated the model output with experimental data. Calculation results were highly consistent with the experimental data, demonstrating that this model can be useful for predicting the RO concentration process.

Synthesis of silicalite-1 zeolite membranes for vapor-permeation separation of dichlorobenzene Isomers

Silicalite-1 zeolitic membranes have been successfully fabricated on the porousα-Al₂O₃support by templated and template-free protocol, respectively, for vapor permeation separation of dichlorobenzene (DCB) isomers. After proving the high quality of the membranes by single gas permeation (He and SF₆) performance, the vapor-permeation of DCB isomers over two types of the silicalite-1 membrane was then investigated. The separation results clearly indicated that under the lower partial pressure and higher temperature, the effect of DCB isomer adsorption on the permeance could be kept at a sufficiently low level and sharp selectivity become more important. Thus, highp-DCB selectivity could be achieved. Comparatively, the template-free silicalite-1 zeolite has a much higher p-DCB selectivity due to the relatively fewer inter-crystalline gaps. Under certain separation conditions, the highest selectivity ofp-DCB forp-/m-DCB andp-/o-DCB binary systems could reach 165 and 113, respectively.

Review on technologies to separate and purify ethyl alcohol from dilute aqueous solutions

Ethyl alcohol (ethanol) is viewed upon as a fuel additive or even as an alternative fuel. Fermentation is used to produce dilute (<20 mass%) ethanol. This is needed to be concentrated to almost anhydrous, fuel grade ethanol (>99.5 mass%). The technologies used for concentration from dilute grade to fuel grade ethanol are summarized in this review. Thus, extraction; distillation; use of membranes; adsorption and some miscellaneous methods are discussed in detail. For each technique, the inlet and outlet concentrations; merits and demerits and scope for future work are indicated. Hybrid separations are discussed. In addition to technical feasibility, economic viability of the techniques is also discussed. A brief discussion on current industrial practice is also presented.

Process Intensification in Bio-Ethanol Production–Recent Developments in Membrane Separation

Ethanol is considered as a renewable transport fuels and demand is expected to grow. In this work, trends related to bio-ethanol production are described using Thailand as an example. Developments on high-temperature fermentation and membrane technologies are also explained. This study focuses on the application of membranes in ethanol recovery after fermentation. A preliminary simulation was performed to compare different process configurations to concentrate 10 wt% ethanol to 99.5 wt% using membranes. In addition to the significant energy reduction achieved by replacing azeotropic distillation with membrane dehydration, employing ethanol-selective membranes can further reduce energy demand. Silicalite membrane is a type of membrane showing one of the highest ethanol-selective permeation performances reported today. A silicalite membrane was applied to separate a bio-ethanol solution produced via high-temperature fermentation followed by a single distillation. The influence of contaminants in the bio-ethanol on the membrane properties and required further developments are also discussed.

Sustainable environmental management and related biofuel technologies

Environmental sustainability criteria and rising energy demands, exhaustion of conventional resources of energy followed by environmental degradation due to abrupt climate changes have shifted the attention of scientists to seek renewable sources of green and clean energy for sustainable development. Bioenergy is an excellent alternative since it can be applied for several energy-requirements after utilizing suitable conversion methodology. This review elucidates all aspects of biofuels (bioethanol, biodiesel, and butanol) and their sustainability criteria. The principal focus is on the latest developments in biofuel production chiefly stressing on the role of nanotechnology. A plethora of investigations regarding the emerging techniques for process improvement like integration methods, less energy-intensive distillation techniques, and bioengineering of microorganisms are discussed. This can assist in making biofuel-production in a real-world market more economically and environmentally viable.

Binder-free preparation of ZSM-5@silica beads and their use for organic pollutant removal

Organic structure directing agent (OSDA)- and binder-free preparation of ZSM-5@silica beads and their use for aniline removal.

Hydrophobic *BEA-Type Zeolite Membranes on Tubular Silica Supports for Alcohol/Water Separation by Pervaporation

Hydrophobic pure-silica *BEA-type zeolite membranes with large pores were prepared on tubular silica supports by hydrothermal synthesis using a secondary growth method and were applied to the separation of alcohol/water mixtures by pervaporation (PV), an alternative energy-efficient process for production of biofuels. Amorphous pure-silica tubular silica supports, free of Al atoms, were used for preparing the membranes. In this study, the effects of the synthesis conditions, such as the H₂O/SiO₂ and NH₄F/SiO₂ ratios in the synthetic gel, on the membrane formation process and separation performance were systematically investigated. The successfully prepared dense and continuous membranes exhibited alcohol selectivity and high flux for the separation of ethanol/water and butanol/water mixtures. The pure-silica *BEA membranes obtained under optimal conditions (0.08SiO₂:0.5TEAOH:0.7NH₄F:8H₂O) showed high PV performance with a separation factor of 229 and a flux of 0.62 kg·m⁻²·h⁻¹ for a 1 wt % n-butanol/water mixture at 318 K. This result was attributed to the hydrophobicity and large pore size of the pure-silica *BEA membrane. This was the first successful synthesis of hydrophobic large-pore zeolite membranes on tubular supports with alcohol selectivity, and the obtained results could provide new insights into the research on hydrophobic membranes with high permeability.

Effects of Silica-Particle Coating on a Silica Support for the Fabrication of High-Performance Silicalite-1 Membranes by Gel-Free Steam-Assisted Conversion

Silicalite-1 membranes with high pervaporation performance were prepared successfully on a silica-particle-coated tubular silica support using a gel-free steam-assisted conversion (SAC) method. The effects of the silica-particle layer formed on the top surface of the silica support and the physical properties of the silica particles themselves on the membrane-formation process were investigated. The silica particles coated served as the additional silica source for growing the silicalite-1 seed crystal layer into the silicalite-1 membrane. As a result, it was possible to form a dense and continuous membrane even under gel-free conditions. Furthermore, it was found that the properties of the silica particles, such as their primary particle diameter, had a determining effect on their solubility during the steam treatment, that is, on the supply rate of the silica source. The silicalite-1 membrane obtained using the spherical-silica-particle-coated support had an approximately 9-μm-thick separation layer and showed very high pervaporation performance, exhibiting a separation factor of 105 and a flux of 3.72 kg m⁻² h⁻¹ for a 10 wt % ethanol/water mixture at 323 K. Thus, the gel-free SAC method can be used with a silica support coated with silica particles to readily prepare high-performance membranes without producing any chemical waste.

Exploring the potential and design of zeolite nanosheets as pervaporation membranes for ethanol extraction

Molecular dynamics simulations are employed to demonstrate the potential of zeolite nanosheets as pervaporation membranes for ethanol extraction. Our results show that zeolite nanosheets can provide orders of magnitude higher fluxes compared to currently available membranes and achieve outstanding separation factors. The dominant role of membrane surfaces in determining the separation performance is also identified and explored at an atomic level. Developing nanosheet membranes with hydrophobic surfaces and/or with a minimal surface silanol density represents the keys to enable highly selective separation processes.