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Pervaporation behavior and integrated process for concentrating lignocellulosic ethanol through polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) membrane

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Abstract

The effects of by-products from ethanol fermentation and hydrolysates of lignocelluloses on ethanol diffusion through polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) membranes with/without silicalite-1 were investigated. A pervaporation process was integrated with lignocellulosic fermentation to concentrate bioethanol using bare PDMS membranes. Results showed that yeasts, solid particles, and salts increased ethanol flux and selectivity through the membranes (PDMS with/without silicalite-1), whereas glucose exerted negative effects on the performance. On bare PDMS membrane, the performance was not obviously affected by the existence of aliphatic acids. However, on PDMS-silicalite-1 membrane, a remarkable decrease in ethanol selectivity and a rapid growth of total flux in the presence of aliphatic acids were observed. These phenomena were due to the interaction of acids with silanol (Si–OH) groups to break the dense membrane surface. On the PDMS membranes with/without silicalite-1, degradation products of lignocellulosic hydrolysates such as furfural and hydroxyacetone slightly influenced separation performance. These results revealed that an integrated process can effectively eliminate product inhibition, improve ethanol productivity, and enhance the glucose conversion rate.

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 21176124; 20876078), the Key Program of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.20936002; 2009CB724700); the National Hi-Tech Research and Development Program of China (No. 2009AA02Z208), the National Key Technology Support Program of China (2011BAD23B03).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, College of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Nanjing University of Technology, Nanjing, 210009, China

    Jingwen Chen & He Huang

  2. College of Science, Nanjing University of Technology, Nanjing, 210009, China

    Hongman Zhang

  3. Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, China

    Ping Wei & Lin Zhang

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  1. Jingwen Chen
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  2. Hongman Zhang
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  3. Ping Wei
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  4. Lin Zhang
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  5. He Huang
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Correspondence to He Huang.

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Chen, J., Zhang, H., Wei, P. et al. Pervaporation behavior and integrated process for concentrating lignocellulosic ethanol through polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) membrane. Bioprocess Biosyst Eng 37, 183–191 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-013-0984-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-013-0984-5

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