Description
The use of biobutanol, which is obtained through fermentation of various organic feedstocks, as a next-generation drop-in biofuel and bio-based platform chemical has attracted a lot of interest. However, energy-intensive recovery and purification during downstream processing, due to the very low butanol concentration attained after fermentation, are still large bottlenecks that need to be addressed before its widespread implementation.In this study, we investigated the recovery of gaseous butanol using an activated carbon monolith in combination with steam regeneration for rapid temperature swing adsorption. The use of a monolith allows for lower pressure drop and enhances both mass and heat transfer thus enabling high throughput and lower energy costs[1], while steam regeneration is a widely used, energy- and cost-effective technique and is often readily available in process industries[2]. Additionally, steam allows for a very fast heating and cooling through evaporative cooling of the monolith.
Specifically, we explored the effect of regeneration parameters such as regeneration time, steam temperature, steam flow rate and the addition of a drying step on the cyclic adsorption capacity, cycle time, productivity and recovered butanol concentration. An optimization of these parameters is also performed.
[1] Rezaei, F., Webley, P., (2010). Structured adsorbents in gas separation processes. Separation and Purification Technology, Volume 70, Issue 3, pages 243-256.
[2] El Gamal, M., Mousa, H. A., El-Naas, M. H., Zacharia, R., & Judd, S., (2018). Bio-regeneration of activated carbon: A comprehensive review. Separation and Purification Technology, Volume 193, pages 345-359.
| Period | 2 Oct 2024 |
|---|---|
| Event title | 5th Ibero-American Congress on Biorefineries |
| Event type | Conference |
| Location | Jaén, SpainShow on map |
| Degree of Recognition | International |