Separation of a Biofuel: Recovery of Biobutanol by Salting‐Out and Distillation

The second generation biofuel butanol can be produced by acetone‐butanol‐ethanol (ABE) fermentation, but the separation from the broth is still challenging. Therefore, dipotassium hydrogen phosphate was investigated as salting‐out agent. The ABE fermentation broth was enriched by a prefractionator after being preheated. The enriched ABE solution was salted out by K₂HPO₄ solutions at different temperatures. The water in the supplemented ABE solution was largely removed by the salting‐out method. The energy requirements for the prefractionator and the butanol column were significantly reduced. The total energy demand for the recovery of acetone, butanol, and ethanol by salting‐out and subsequent distillation was optimized. With the salting‐out process, the entire salting‐out and distillation method turned out to be more energy‐saving than the conventional one.     

Selective separation of n‐butanol from aqueous solutions by pervaporation using silicone rubber‐coated silicalite membranes

BACKGROUND: To use butanol as a liquid fuel and feedstock, it is necessary to establish processes for refining low‐concentration butanol solutions. Pervaporation (PV) employing hydrophobic silicalite membranes for selective recovery of butanol is a promising approach. In this study, the adsorption behavior of components present in clostridia fermentation broths on membrane material (silicalite powder) was investigated. The potential of PV using silicone rubber‐coated silicalite membranes for the selective separation of butanol from model acetone–butanol–ethanol (ABE) solutions was investigated. RESULTS: The equilibrium adsorbed amounts of ABE per gram of silicalite from aqueous solutions of binary mixtures at 30 °C increased as follows: ethanol (95 mg) < acetone (100 mg) < n‐butanol (120 mg). The amount of butanol adsorbed is decreased by the adsorption of acetone and butyric acid. In the separation of ternary butanol/water/acetone mixtures, the enrichment factor for acetone decreased, compared with that in binary acetone/water mixtures. In the separation of a model acetone–butanol–ethanol (ABE) fermentation broth containing butyric acid by PV using a silicone rubber‐coated silicalite membrane, the permeate butanol concentration was comparable with that obtained in the separation of a model ABE broth without butyric acid. The total flux decreased with decreasing feed solution pH. CONCLUSION: A silicone rubber‐coated silicalite membrane exhibited highly selective PV performance in the separation of a model ABE solution. It is very important to demonstrate the effectiveness of PV in the separation of actual clostridia fermentation broths, and to identify the factors affecting PV performance. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry     

Experimental studies and modeling of CO2 solubility in high temperature aqueous CaCl2, MgCl2, Na2SO4, and KCl solutions

The phase equilibria of CO₂ and aqueous electrolyte solutions are important to various chemical‐, petroleum‐, and environmental‐related technical applications. CO₂ solubility in aqueous CaCl₂, MgCl₂, Na₂SO₄, and KCl solutions at a pressure of 15 MPa, the temperatures from 323 to 423 K, and the ionic strength from 1 to 6 mol kg^?1 were measured. Based on the measured experimental CO₂ solubility, the previous developed fugacity‐activity thermodynamic model for the CO₂‐NaCl‐H₂O system was extended to account for the effects of different salt species on CO₂ solubility in aqueous solutions at temperatures up to 523 K, pressures up to 150 MPa, and salt concentrations up to saturation. Comparisons of different models against literature data reveal a clear improvement of the proposed PSUCO2 model in predicting CO₂ solubility in aqueous salt solutions. © 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 61: 2286–2297, 2015     

Exploring the potential of recovering 1‐butanol from aqueous solutions by liquid demixing upon addition of carbohydrates or salts

BACKGROUND: Fermentative production of 1‐butanol yields dilute aqueous solutions. Recovery of the butanol from these solutions is most commonly performed by energy‐intensive distillation. This work investigated the liquid‐liquid (L‐L) phase behavior of mixtures of butanol and water to explore the potential of using L‐L phase separation as a recovery possibility for 1‐butanol. The phase behavior is preferably influenced by compounds already present in the fermentation, such as carbohydrates and salts. RESULTS: The L‐L phase equilibria of butanol and water were determined in the presence of glucose, fructose, sucrose, NaCl, LiCl and CaCl₂. The aqueous and organic phase split is more pronounced in the presence of salts than in the presence of carbohydrates. Demixing is achieved with about 0.3 kg salt kg^?1 aqueous phase containing 40 g of butanol. CONCLUSION: Operation of L‐L based recovery using salts or carbohydrates requires extreme concentrations of those compounds. For feed material containing 40 g kg^?1 butanol, the tested carbohydrates do not influence the phase equilibria sufficiently to allow butanol separation. Fermentative butanol concentrations up to 70 g kg^?1 are required to create an effective L‐L phase split. The remaining residual aqueous carbohydrate solution might be used as feed for a following fermentation. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry     

Modelling Vapour − Liquid Equilibrium of CO2 in Aqueous N‐Methyldiethanolamine through the Simulated Annealing Algorithm

The modified Clegg‐Pitzer equation is used to correlate and predict the vapor‐liquid equilibrium of the CO₂‐MDEA‐H₂O system. Simulated annealing (SA), a computational stochastic technique for finding near global minimum solutions to optimization problems, has been used for parameter estimation in the model to predict VLE of CO₂ in aqueous MDEA solution. The solubility of CO₂ in aqueous solutions of 23.8 wt % and 30.0 wt % of N‐methyldiethanolamine (MDEA) has been measured over the temperature range of 303‐323 K and CO₂ partial pressure range of 1 to 100 kPa. The model predicted equilibria have been found to be in good agreement with the experimental results of VLE measurement of this work as well as those in the open literature. In this work, the SA technique has been used as an alternative to the traditional Levenberg‐Marquardt (LM) technique, to predict the VLE data accurately.     

H‐B‐E (hexanol‐butanol‐ethanol) fermentation for the production of higher alcohols from syngas/waste gas

CO, H₂, and CO₂ are major components of syngas and some industrial CO‐rich waste gases (e.g. waste gases from steel industries), besides some additional minor compounds. It was recently shown that those gases can be bioconverted, by acetogenic/solventogenic bacteria, into ethanol and higher alcohols such as butanol, but also hexanol, through the so‐called HBE fermentation. That process presents some advantages over existing chemical conversion processes. This paper reviews HBE fermentation from C1‐gases after briefly describing the more conventional ABE (acetone‐butanol‐ethanol) fermentation from carbohydrates by Clostridium acetobutylicum, in order to allow for comparison of both processes. Although acetone may appear in carbohydrate fermentation, alcohols are the only major end‐metabolites in the HBE process with Clostridium carboxidivorans. The few acetogenic bacteria known to metabolize C1‐gases and produce butanol or higher alcohols are described. Clostridium carboxidivorans has been used in most cases. Bioconversion of the gaseous substrates takes place in two stages, namely acidogenesis (production of acids) followed by solventogenesis (production of alcohols), characterized by different optimal fermentation conditions. Major parameters affecting each bioconversion stage as well as the overall fermentation process are analyzed. Although it has been claimed that acidification is required in ABE fermentation to initiate the solventogenic stage, strong acidification seems to some extent not to be a prerequisite for solventogenesis in the HBE process. Bioreactors potentially suitable for this type of bioconversion process are described as well. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry     

Analysis of countercurrent membrane vapor extraction of a dilute aqueous biosolute

Removal of dilute bioproducts from fermenter broths is a major challenge both to avoid microbe inhibition and to recover solutes economically without water loss. We analyze a proposed new process, membrane vapor extraction (MVE), where semi‐volatile dilute aqueous solutes vaporize at the upstream side of an omniphobic, microporous membrane and dissolve into a nonpolar solvent highly favorable to the solutes but not to water. A new membrane‐process analysis is outlined and applied to the countercurrent recovery of 2 wt % aqueous butanol by a prototype solvent (dodecane) at 40°C. Thermodynamic phase equilibria, pioneered by the Prausnitz school, are crucial to MVE process design. Over 90% of the feed butanol is recovered with essentially no water loss giving a separation factor of over 1000. Energy requirements in MVE are low. Our design calculations demonstrate that MVE is a viable separation process to remove and recover dilute aqueous biosolutes. © 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 61: 2795–2809, 2015     

Coagel Prepared from Aqueous Octyl β‐d‐Galactoside Solution

Structuring of semi‐crystalline networks in water systems is significant for a variety of industrial applications. In the present work, we investigated the coagel formation from aqueous octyl β‐d ‐galactoside (C₈‐β‐Gal) solutions and characterized the crystal structure and crystallite network in the prepared coagel. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) confirmed that the Krafft boundary temperature (T_K) is 32–35 °C for C₈‐β‐Gal concentrations below 30 wt% and a knee of the Krafft boundary exists around 2.5 wt% C₈‐β‐Gal concentrations. The addition of NaCl increased T_K slightly because of the salting‐out effect. Powder X‐ray diffraction (PXRD) analysis, field‐emission scanning electron microscopy (FE‐SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) observations revealed that the coagel is comprised of the three dimensional bundled semi‐crystalline network consisting of a “ribbon crystal phase” of hemihydrate crystals. Moreover, the excellent ability of C₈‐β‐Gal to form a macroscopically homogeneous coagel was demonstrated by the comparison with other representative mono‐alkylated glycoside’ systems containing octyl a‐d ‐glucoside or dodecyl β‐d ‐glucoside. Persistence of the liquid phase without liquid–liquid phase separation prior to and during the coagel formation was a key factor for the preparation. A novel coagel was obtained from a principal synthetic galactoside.     

Vapour–liquid equilibrium of CO2 in aqueous solutions of N‐methyl‐2‐ethanolamine

The equilibrium solubility of CO₂ into aqueous solution of sterically hindered N‐methyl‐2‐ethanolamine or methyl amino ethanol (MAE) was investigated in the temperature range of 303.1–323.1 K and total CO₂ pressure in the range of 1–350 kPa. The N‐methyl‐2‐ethanolamine aqueous solutions studied were 0.968, 1.574, 2.240 and 3.125 mol kg^?1 of solvent. © 2011 Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering     

Modeling of CO2 equilibrium solubility in a novel 1‐Diethylamino‐2‐Propanol Solvent

In this work, the equilibrium solubility of CO₂ in a 1‐diethylamino‐2‐propanol (1DEA2P) solution was determined as a function of 1DEA2P concentration (over the range of 1–2 M), temperature (in the range of 298–333 K), and CO₂ partial pressure (in the range of 8–101 kPa). These experimental results were used to fit the present correlation for K₂ (Kent‐Eisenberg model, Austgen model, and Li‐Shen model). It was found that all of the models could represent the CO₂ equilibrium solubility in 1DEA2P solution with ADDs for Kent‐Eisenberg model, Austgen model, and Li‐Shen model of 6.3, 7.3, and 12.2%, respectively. A new K₂ correlation model, the Liu‐Helei model, was also developed to predict the CO₂ equilibrium solubility in 1DEA2P solution with an excellent ADD of 3.4%. In addition, the heat of absorption of CO₂ in 1DEA2P solution estimated by using the Gibbs‐Helmholtz equation was found to be ?45.7 ± 3.7 kJ/mol. Information and guidelines about effectively using data for screened solvents is also provided based on the three absorption parameters: CO₂ equilibrium solubility, second order reaction constant (k₂), and CO₂ absorption heat. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 63: 4465–4475, 2017     

Formation of poly‐vinyl‐alcohol structures by supercritical CO2

Poly‐vinyl‐alcohol (PVA) porous structures have been prepared using a supercritical phase inversion process in which supercritical carbon dioxide (SC‐CO₂) acts as the nonsolvent. First, we tested the versatility of the SC‐CO₂ phase inversion process, forming PVA/dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) solutions with polymer concentrations ranging from 1 to 35% (w/w) and changing the process parameters. We worked at temperatures from 35 to 55°C and pressures from 100 to 200 bar obtaining different membranes morphologies: dense films, membranes with coexisting morphologies, and microparticles. However, we did not produce symmetric or asymmetric porous membranes. To obtain this result, we used casting solutions formed by adding acetone to DMSO with the aim of modifying the affinity between SC‐CO₂ and the liquid solvent. In this series of experiments, we obtained asymmetric membranes with skin layer thicknesses lower than 10 μm. The results obtained in this work have been explained considering that the membranes formation mechanism is related to the kinetics of the process; i.e. the affinity between the solvent (mixture of solvents) and SC‐CO₂. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 2007     

Surface Tensions of Carbonated 2‐Amino‐2‐methyl‐1‐propanol and Piperazine Aqueous Solutions

Surface tensions of carbonated 2‐amino‐2‐methyl‐1‐propanol (AMP) and piperazine (PZ) aqueous solutions were measured by a surface tension meter which employs the Wilhemy plate principle. A thermodynamic model was proposed to correlate the surface tensions of both CO₂‐unloaded and CO₂‐loaded aqueous solutions by introducing the contribution of CO₂ loading into the formulation of surface tension. Based on experiments and calculations, the effects of temperature, mass fractions of amines, and CO₂ loading on surface tensions of carbonated aqueous solutions were demonstrated.     

Production of bio‐crude from forestry waste by hydro‐liquefaction in sub‐/super‐critical methanol

Hydro‐liquefaction of a woody biomass (birch powder) in sub‐/super‐critical methanol without and with catalysts was investigated with an autoclave reactor at temperatures of 473–673 K and an initial pressure of hydrogen varying from 2.0 to 10.0 MPa. The liquid products were separated into water soluble oil and heavy oil (as bio‐crude) by extraction with water and acetone. Without catalyst, the yields of heavy oil and water soluble oil were in the ranges of 2.4–25.5 wt % and 1.2–17.0 wt %, respectively, depending strongly on reaction temperature, reaction time, and initial pressure of hydrogen. The optimum temperature for the production of heavy oil and water soluble oil was found to be at around 623 K, whereas a longer residence time and a lower initial H₂ pressure were found to be favorite conditions for the oil production. Addition of a basic catalyst, such as NaOH, K₂CO₃, and Rb₂CO₃, could significantly promote biomass conversion and increase yields of oily products in the treatments at temperatures less than 573 K. The yield of heavy oil attained about 30 wt % for the liquefaction operation in the presence of 5 wt % Rb₂CO₃ at 573 K and 2 MPa of H₂ for 60 min. The obtained heavy oil products consisted of a high concentration of phenol derivatives, esters, and benzene derivatives, and they also contained a higher concentration of carbon, a much lower concentration of oxygen, and a significantly increased heating value (>30 MJ/kg) when compared with the raw woody biomass. © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2009     

New solvent for polyrotaxane. III. Dissolution of a poly(ethylene glycol)/cyclodextrin polyrotaxane in a calcium thiocyanate aqueous solution or N‐methylmorpholine‐N‐oxide monohydrate

Calcium thiocyanate [Ca(SCN)₂] aqueous solutions above 40 wt % and N‐methylmorpholine N‐oxide (NMMO) monohydrate, which are known to dissolve cellulose, were found to be good solvents for a polyrotaxane comprising α‐cyclodextrin and poly(ethylene glycol). The polyrotaxane could be dissolved up to 12 and 10 wt % in a 40 wt % Ca(SCN)₂ aqueous solution and NMMO, respectively. These are the first instances of a neutral aqueous solution and a cyclic amine oxide, respectively, that readily dissolve the polyrotaxane. These new good solvents, as well as other solvents of the polyrotaxane, except for dimethyl sulfoxide, are identical to those of cellulose, indicating that the dissolution mechanism of the polyrotaxane is dominated by intra‐ and intermolecular hydrogen bonding of the molecule similar to that of cellulose dissolution. The concentrated polyrotaxane solution in a 40 wt % Ca(SCN)₂ aqueous solution showed apparent thixotropy and spontaneous gelation of the solution caused by a gradual increase in its viscosity. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 2007     

Separation of α‐Lactalbumin and β‐Lactoglobulin by a Convenient Liquid‐Solid Extraction System: Application to Milk Whey

A liquid‐solid extraction system based on Tween 80/phosphate was developed. Under the optimized conditions (9 wt % Tween 80, 1.6 : 1 (molar ratio) K₂HPO₄ : NaH₂PO₄, 1.25 mol/L total phosphate, pH = 7.4), α‐Lactalbumin (α‐La) and β‐Lactoglobulin (β‐Lg) were separated with recovery rates of 87.6 % (in the solid polymeric phase) and 98.2 % (in the salt aqueous phase), respectively. Under the effects of water and salt, the solid phase had the ability to form a new liquid‐solid extraction system, and 85.1 % of α‐La could be reversely extracted into the new salt aqueous phase. Following dialysis against water, proteins obtained through extraction and reverse extraction, were analyzed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) and thin‐layer scanning. The method was applied successfully to separate α‐La and β‐Lg from milk whey.     

Determination of kinetics of CO2 absorption in solutions of 2‐amino‐2‐methyl‐1‐propanol using a microfluidic technique

The kinetics for the reactions of carbon dioxide with 2‐amine‐2‐methyl‐1‐propanol (AMP) and carbon dioxide (CO₂) in both aqueous and nonaqueous solutions were measured using a microfluidic method at a temperature range of 298–318 K. The mixtures of AMP‐water and AMP‐ethylene glycol were applied for the working systems. Gas‐liquid bubbly microflows were formed through a microsieve device and used to determine the reaction characteristics by online observation of the volume change of microbubbles at the initial flow stage. In this condition, a mathematical model according to zwitterion mechanism has been developed to predict the reaction kinetics. The predicted kinetics of CO₂ absorption in the AMP aqueous solution verified the reliability of the method by comparing with literatures’ results. Furthermore, the reaction rate parameters for the reaction of CO₂ with AMP in both solutions were determined. © 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 61: 4358–4366, 2015     

Grafting of sulfonated monomer onto an amino‐silane functionalized 2‐aminoterephthalate metal − organic framework via surface‐initiated redox polymerization: proton‐conducting solid electrolytes

A post‐polymerization method for metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) has been developed to produce super‐acidic solid nanoparticles. Thus, the NH₂MIL‐53(Al) MOF was functionalized with (3‐aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APTES) from amine groups to yield active site anchored MOF nanoparticles. Then, sulfonated polymer/MOF hybrid nanoparticles were prepared by redox polymerization of 2‐acrylamido‐2‐methyl‐1‐propane sulfonic acid (MOF‐g‐PAMPS), initiated onto the surfaces of aminopropyl‐functionalized NH₂MIL‐53(Al) nanoparticles. The synthesis and modification of NH₂MIL‐53(Al) nanoparticles were characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and TGA. FTIR and TGA results indicated that APTES modifier agent and AMPS monomer were successfully grafted onto the MOF nanoparticles. The grafting efficiency of PAMPS polymer onto the MOF nanoparticles was estimated from TGA thermograms to be 33%. Also, sulfonated polymer/MOF hybrid nanoparticles showed a proton conductivity as high as 4.9 × 10^?5 S cm^?1. Nitrogen adsorption of modified NH₂MIL‐53(Al) showed also a decrease in pore volume. The morphology and crystalline structure of MOF nanoparticles before and after the modification processes were studied by SEM and XRD, respectively. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry     

Effect of Stearic Acid as a Co‐solvent on the Solubility Enhancement of Aspirin in Supercritical CO2

The solubility of aspirin in supercritical CO₂ (SC‐CO₂) with stearic acid as a co‐solvent was measured at various pressures and temperatures. The experimental data were obtained by a static method. Stearic acid had a significant effect on the enhancement of solubility, as the aspirin solubility increased by up to 16 times. Further, the effect of stearic acid on the solubility enhancement of aspirin was compared with that of other co‐solvents. Different semi‐empirical models from the literature were applied for correlating the experimental data, proving good agreement with the experimental data. The model of Sung and Shim exhibited the lowest deviation from the obtained data. The results of the solubility test can be employed to produce aspirin‐based pharmaceuticals using supercritical fluid technology (SFT).     

Synthesis of charged linear and crosslinked maleic diester polymers with electron‐beam irradiation

Series of maleic mono‐ and diester monomers have been prepared by esterification of maleic anhydride with poly(ethylene glycol) having different molecular weights, and with n‐dodecyl alcohol. These monomers were copolymerized with 2‐acrylamido‐2‐methylpropane sulfonic acid (AMPS) using different dose rates of electron‐beam irradiation ranging from 40 to 150 kGy. The synthesized copolymers were characterized by IR and ¹H NMR analysis. Their aggregation behaviour and viscometric properties in aqueous solutions were investigated. The crosslinked copolymers were prepared in aqueous acidic solutions at pH 1 or in the presence of 1% of N,N‐methylene bisacrylamide (MBA) as crosslinking agent. The final equilibrium water content and swelling capacities for the prepared hydrogels were determined in aqueous solutions at pH = 1, 6.8 and 12 at 298 K. Swelling equilibria for the prepared hydrogels were carried out in aqueous solutions of NaCl, KCl, CaCl₂, Na₂SO₄, K₂SO₄ and CaSO₄ at concentrations ranging from 1 × 10^?6 to 2 M at 298 K. © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry