Bioethanol separation by a new pass-through distillation process

Distillation is the most used separation technology at industrial-scale, but using distillation in bio-based processes (e.g. fermentation processes to produce bioethanol) is quite challenging when mild temperatures are needed to keep the microbes alive. Vacuum distillation can be used to perform evaporation at low temperatures, but setting a...

Thermally self-sufficient process for single-step coproduction of methanol and dimethyl ether by CO₂ hydrogenation

Methanol and DME are highly efficient fuels and relevant building blocks that can be synthesized by CO₂ hydrogenation. While several alternatives for methanol production by CO₂ hydrogenation have already been developed at a commercial scale, DME production is still based on methanol dehydration. In this sense, the...

Impact of intermittent electricity supply on a conceptual process design for microbial conversion of CO₂ into hexanoic acid

Combining intermittent renewable electricity (IRE) with carbon capture and utilisation is urgently needed in the chemical sector. In this context, microbial electrosynthesis (MES) has gained attention. It can electrochemically produce hexanoic acid, a value-added chemical, from CO₂. However, there is a lack of understanding...

Synthesis and optimization of energy integrated advanced distillation sequences

This paper explores the basis on which reliable screening of distillation sequences for energy-efficient separation of zeotropic multicomponent mixtures can be carried out. A case study for the separation of natural gas liquids is used to demonstrate the approach. To solve this generic problem, a screening algorithm has been developed using...

A novel mechanistic modelling approach for microbial selection dynamics: Towards improved design and control of raceway reactors for purple bacteria

Purple phototrophic bacteria (PPB) show an underexplored potential for resource recovery from wastewater. Raceway reactors offer a more affordable full-scale solution on wastewater and enable useful additional aerobic processes. Current mathematical models of PPB systems provide useful mechanistic insights, but do not represent the full...

Rethinking the design of a 2-methoxy-2-methyl-heptane process by unraveling the true thermodynamics and kinetics

Among other fuel additives — such as MTBE, ETBE, or TAME — 2-methoxy-2-methyl heptane (MMH) can increase the fuel octane number and reduce the CO emission. MMH can be obtained through the exothermal etherification of 2-methyl-1-heptene and methanol. Lately, many researchers have developed more and more efficient processes considering the...

Unraveling the effect of variable natural gas feedstock on an industrial ammonia process

Ammonia plays critical role as the second most produced chemical commodity with around 80% used in producing nitrogen-based fertilizer. Considering the decline of reserves of fossil-based feedstocks it is imperative to shift towards greener alternatives. However, such green ammonia processes are far from being economically viable. This makes...

Novel intensified process for ethanolamines production using reactive distillation and dividing-wall column technologies

Monoethanolamine is an essential chemical used as feedstock in the production of detergents, emulsifiers, pharmaceuticals, polishes, corrosion inhibitors, and chemical intermediates. It is produced industrially by treating ethylene oxide with aqueous ammonia, but the reaction also leads to di- and tri-ethanolamine as less desired by-products....

Aqueous two-phase systems applied to the enzymatic hydrolysis of sugarcane bagasse: Screening methodology, thermodynamic modelling and process design

Targeting to improve the utilization of lignocellulosic residues in the ethanol processing industry, this work aimed to test if the product inhibition of the enzymatic hydrolysis could be relieved by extractive reaction using aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS). The performance of enzymatic hydrolysis in ATPS is not well defined in literature. In...

Enhanced process for energy efficient extraction of 1,3-butadiene from a crude C4 cut

1,3-butadiene is an essential platform chemical for producing rubberlike polymers, which is extracted from C₄ hydrocarbons that are produced through steam cracking. The current state-of-the-art technology is the BASF process that uses thermally coupled extractive distillation (ED) followed by two distillation columns. However, the...

Process intensification education contributes to sustainable development goals. Part 2

Achieving the United Nations sustainable development goals requires industry and society to develop tools and processes that work at all scales, enabling goods delivery, services, and technology to large conglomerates and remote regions. Process Intensification (PI) is a technological advance that promises to deliver means to reach these...

Co-creating Responsible Energy Systems

Energy system projects in countries like India are often failing. Not only because of technical or economical barriers, but mainly institutional and social issues are at the base of these failures. A co-creation, or participatory, process to align all demands and requirements of the different stakeholders is required. This paper takes...

Determinants of presence and removal of antibiotic resistance genes during WWTP treatment: A cross-sectional study

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), linking human fecal residues and the environment, are considered as hotspots for the spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). In order to evaluate the role of WWTPs and underlying operational parameters for the removal of AMR, the presence and removal efficiency of a selected set of 6 antimicrobial...

In-situ product removal by membrane extraction

In bioproduction processes of chemicals and pharmaceuticals, downstream processing usually is a significant cost factor. The products require a high purity (especially biopharmaceutical products), therefore, the process usually contains a large number of separation steps. Moreover, the high costs in downstream processing are caused by the fact...