- 28 November 2007 -

Zeolite membranes developed for biofuel

Hyflux Ltd is to work with BP International Ltd and the Chinese Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics to develop and commercialise the use of zeolite dewatering membranes in the production of biofuels.

The organisations will look at the fermentation and synthetic alcohol dehydration of ethanol and propanol and mixtures of alcohols and diols, specifically monoethylene glycol. They will start by developing the dewatering of bio-ethanol using zeolite membranes.

Bio-ethanol is produced by the fermentation of sugars derived from starchy plants (corn, potatoes), sugar-rich plants (beets, sugar cane) or ligneous or cellulosic plants (wood, straw). The dewatering of alcohol is typically an energy intensive and costly process. Zeolite membrane technology has been proven to be especially cost-effective in the dewatering process and offers very significant energy savings when compared with conventional processes, Hyflux says. By increasing the efficiency of the dewatering step, zeolite membranes have the potential to significantly reduce the energy costs of production of biofuels.

www.hyflux.com

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