Chromatographic Rectification of Ethanol

Abstract

A scalable technology for purifying ethanol from a dilute aqueous solution of ethanol, the technology incorporating vaporization of ethanol coupled with a chromatographic rectification process comprising feeding a vaporized ethanol / water mix onto a plurality of molecular sieve beds, to produce dehydrated ethanol vapor, which can then be condensed to recover purified dehydrated ethanol liquid. The scalable technology process is suitable for farm-scale production of fuel-grade ethanol, having the added benefit of allowing wet distillers grains to be used on-site as live-stock feed, thus eliminating the energy and shipping costs associated with drying and off-site distribution of the grains portions generated during the rectification process. Scalable technology, as provided herein, is also suitable for recovery of ethanol from processes which use ethanol during manufacture of a product. Current embodiments of the scalable technology as disclosed herein are suitable for production of fuel-grade ethanol at quantities of anywhere from about 1000 gallons per year to upwards of hundreds of millions of gallons per year, by reducing energy requirements and costs and reducing pollution, thereby minimizing the economy of scale effect to create a technology scalable to any output need. Embodiments disclose a plurality of smaller molecular sieve beds in series and use heat generated during desorption and regeneration of the molecular sieve beds as an energy source to aid in the vaporization step.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]The present application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 11 / 471,460 filed Jun. 20, 2006, issuing as U.S. Pat. No. 7,507,273 on Mar. 24, 2009, and which claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60 / 692,152 filed Jun. 20, 2005, the entire contents of both of which are incorporated by reference herein.TECHNICAL FIELD AND BACKGROUND ART[0002]The present invention relates to rectification of ethanol and production of fuel grade ethanol from beer using an energy efficient chromatographic rectification process.[0003]The production of fuel grade ethanol by fermentation has become a large source of transportation fuel in the United States and in particular, in the corn belt states of Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and the Dakotas. Ethanol is produced typically from corn, but other substrates are available by the yeast fermentation of sugars to produce a beer containing typically from 10 to 15% ethanol. The...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

"The patent describes a scalable technology for purifying ethanol from a dilute aqueous solution of ethanol using a chromatographic rectification process. This technology allows for the production of fuel-grade ethanol from small-scale sources, such as wet distillers grains, and reduces the energy requirements and costs associated with traditional distillation methods. The technology also minimizes the economic scale effect by using a chromatographic rectifier system directly following vaporization, which eliminates the need for drying the grains and reduces pollution. The process involves vaporizing the ethanol solution using a still, applying it to a chromatographic rectifier, and condensing it to a dehydrated ethanol liquid. The technology can be used for production of dehydrated ethanol at various output levels, ranging from about 1000 gallons per year to millions of gallons per year. The patent also describes a method for regenerating the chromatographic rectifier beds using a pressure swing absorption process. Overall, the technology provides a cost-effective and energy-efficient solution for purifying ethanol from aqueous solutions."

Problems solved by technology

Current industrial-sized distillation systems, which produce upwards of one hundred million gallons of fuel-grade ethanol / per year and utilize vast amounts of energy, mostly unrecovered as heat loss, benefit from large economy of scale, making them unsuitable for smaller-scale production needs.

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