Microbubble Distillation for Ethanol-Water Separation

In the current study, a novel approach for separating ethanol-water mixture by microbubble distillation technology was investigated. Traditional distillation processes require large amounts of energy to raise the liquid to its boiling point to effect removal of volatile components. The concept of mi...

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Main Authors: Atheer Al-yaqoobi, David Hogg, William B. Zimmerman
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2016-01-01
Series:International Journal of Chemical Engineering
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/5210865
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author Atheer Al-yaqoobi
David Hogg
William B. Zimmerman
author_facet Atheer Al-yaqoobi
David Hogg
William B. Zimmerman
author_sort Atheer Al-yaqoobi
collection DOAJ
description In the current study, a novel approach for separating ethanol-water mixture by microbubble distillation technology was investigated. Traditional distillation processes require large amounts of energy to raise the liquid to its boiling point to effect removal of volatile components. The concept of microbubble distillation by comparison is to heat the gas phase rather than the liquid phase to achieve separation. The removal of ethanol from the thermally sensitive fermentation broths was taken as a case of study. Consequently the results were then compared with those which could be obtained under equilibrium conditions expected in an “ideal” distillation unit. Microbubble distillation has achieved vapour compositions higher than that which could be obtained under traditional equilibrium conditions. The separation was achieved at liquid temperature significantly less than the boiling point of the mixture. In addition, it was observed that the separation efficiency of the microbubble distillation could be increased by raising the injected air temperature, while the temperature of the liquid mixture increased only moderately. The separation efficiency of microbubble distillation was compared with that of pervaporation for the recovery of bioethanol from the thermally sensitive fermentation broths. The technology could be controlled to give high separation and energy efficiency. This could contribute to improving commercial viability of biofuel production and other coproducts of biorefinery processing.
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spelling doaj-art-1bdf0ba0be3944528804583bd002f10c2025-02-03T01:28:14ZengWileyInternational Journal of Chemical Engineering1687-806X1687-80782016-01-01201610.1155/2016/52108655210865Microbubble Distillation for Ethanol-Water SeparationAtheer Al-yaqoobi0David Hogg1William B. Zimmerman2Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Sheffield, Mappin Street, Sheffield S1 3JD, UKRejuvetech Ltd., The Sheffield Bio-Incubator, 40 Leavygreave Road, Sheffield S3 7RD, UKDepartment of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Sheffield, Mappin Street, Sheffield S1 3JD, UKIn the current study, a novel approach for separating ethanol-water mixture by microbubble distillation technology was investigated. Traditional distillation processes require large amounts of energy to raise the liquid to its boiling point to effect removal of volatile components. The concept of microbubble distillation by comparison is to heat the gas phase rather than the liquid phase to achieve separation. The removal of ethanol from the thermally sensitive fermentation broths was taken as a case of study. Consequently the results were then compared with those which could be obtained under equilibrium conditions expected in an “ideal” distillation unit. Microbubble distillation has achieved vapour compositions higher than that which could be obtained under traditional equilibrium conditions. The separation was achieved at liquid temperature significantly less than the boiling point of the mixture. In addition, it was observed that the separation efficiency of the microbubble distillation could be increased by raising the injected air temperature, while the temperature of the liquid mixture increased only moderately. The separation efficiency of microbubble distillation was compared with that of pervaporation for the recovery of bioethanol from the thermally sensitive fermentation broths. The technology could be controlled to give high separation and energy efficiency. This could contribute to improving commercial viability of biofuel production and other coproducts of biorefinery processing.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/5210865
spellingShingle Atheer Al-yaqoobi
David Hogg
William B. Zimmerman
Microbubble Distillation for Ethanol-Water Separation
International Journal of Chemical Engineering
title Microbubble Distillation for Ethanol-Water Separation
title_full Microbubble Distillation for Ethanol-Water Separation
title_fullStr Microbubble Distillation for Ethanol-Water Separation
title_full_unstemmed Microbubble Distillation for Ethanol-Water Separation
title_short Microbubble Distillation for Ethanol-Water Separation
title_sort microbubble distillation for ethanol water separation
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/5210865
work_keys_str_mv AT atheeralyaqoobi microbubbledistillationforethanolwaterseparation
AT davidhogg microbubbledistillationforethanolwaterseparation
AT williambzimmerman microbubbledistillationforethanolwaterseparation