Abstract:

As an emerging membrane separation technology, vapor permeation could effectively resolve the bottlenecks such as low fermentation yield, large energy consumption and environmental pollution problem in the production of biofuel ethanol. Compared with pervaporation, vapor permeation has the advantages in separation performance, feeding cleanliness, energy saving and operation flexibility, which make it own a broader application prospect in the field of fuel ethanol production. On the basis of comparing with pervaporation and gas separation technology, the mechanism and characteristics of vapor permeation are described. In this paper, the materials and research progress of two kinds of membrane applied in different stages of fuel ethanol production, namely ethanol perm-selective membrane and water perm-selective membrane, are introduced. The novel researches of mixed matrix membrane in preparation methods and hybrid particle material selection are presented in detail. The paper reviews the industrial application of vapor permeation in the ethanol dehydration. The technology coupled with in-situ ethanol recovery and alternative distillation process are demonstrated. The possibility of vapor permeation combined with advanced solid state fermentation as once phase change method to produce biofuel ethanol is discussed. The problems that required to be studied and solved in the future are put forward to provide reference for the further application of vapor permeation technology in biofuel ethanol production.

Key words: vapor permeation, pervaporation, biofuel, ethanol, membrane, solid-state fermentation

摘要：

蒸汽渗透作为一种新型膜分离技术，可有效解决生物燃料乙醇生产中发酵产物浓度低、能源消耗量大、污染环境等诸多瓶颈问题。与渗透蒸发相比，蒸汽渗透技术具有分离性能好、进料清洁、能量损耗低、操作弹性大等优点，在燃料乙醇生产领域具备更广阔的应用前景。本文在比较渗透蒸发和气体分离技术的基础上，简述了蒸汽渗透过程的机理和特点。介绍了优先透水膜和优先透醇膜两类应用于燃料乙醇生产不同阶段的蒸汽渗透膜和这两类膜材料当前的研究进展，重点阐述了有机/无机杂化膜在成膜方法、杂化材料选择等方面的最新成果。回顾了蒸汽渗透在乙醇脱水方面的工业应用成果，指出该技术在发酵原位分离乙醇和替代精馏工艺方面所具有的优势，探讨了与固态发酵技术相结合进行一次相变生产燃料乙醇工艺实现的可能性，并提出未来亟待研究和解决的问题，为蒸汽渗透技术在燃料乙醇生产领域大规模发展提供参考。

关键词: 蒸汽渗透, 渗透蒸发, 生物燃料, 乙醇, 膜, 固态发酵